LAST  QUARTER  OF  EIGHTEENTH   CENT  (TRY.       COSTUMES  AND   SOCIAL 
LIFE   IN   FRANCE. 


THE    PSYCHOLOGY 
OF  DRESS 

BY 

FRANK  ALVAH  PARSONS,  B.  S. 

PRESIDENT   OF    NEW    YORK   SCHOOL    OF    FINE    AND    APPLIED    ART 


ILLUSTRATED 


DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE    &   COMPANY 

GARDEN   CITY  1921  NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT,  1920,  BY 
DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  A  COMPANY 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED,  INCLUDING  THAT  OF  TRANSLATION 
INTO  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES,  INCLUDING  THE  SCANDINAVIAN 


TO  AMERICAN  AND  OTHER  LADIES  WHO 
ARE  INTERESTED  IN  CAUSE  AND  EFFECT 
IN  DRESS,  THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED. 


I 


/ 


.    . 


PREFACE 

f| 

APPARENTLY  there  are  two  main  reasons  for  writing 
}     the  preface  to  a  book.     The  one,  that  traditional  prac- 
tice may  be  duly  observed,  the  other,  that  the  writer 
may  make  suitabte  apology  for  what  he  has  done  or 
.perchance  fittingly  acknowledge  the  assistance  given 
'him  by  his  friends.     The  second,  is  the  reason  for  this 
preface. 

It  would  be  presumptuous  to  present  this  book  as  a 
History  of  Costume.  It  attempts  no  such  colossal 
task1.  It  is  equally  absurd  to  claim  for  it  a  thorough, 
technical,  psychological  treatment  of  any  one  period  or 
group  of  periods.  It  makes  no  such  boast. 

There  has  been  in  the  last  decade  a  remarkable  awak- 
ening to  the  relations  which  exist  between  man  and  his 
works,  between  the  mind  and  its  expression  in  material 
^  objects,  and  also  to  how  absorbing  or  dominating  ideas 
and  interests  colour,  if  not  determine,  the  entire  exter- 
nalized thought  of  man  in  religious,  political  and  social 
life.  It  is  this  that  makes  history  live,  that  makes  psy- 
chology a  vital  thing  and  Art  a  quality  essential  to  full 
human  expression  and  inseparable  from  human  life. 

This  is  the  thought  the  author  has  in  mind  in  the  se- 
lection, analysis,  and  treatment  of  such  European  pe- 
riods as  have  most  directly  influenced.our  development 
and  that  illustrate  perhaps,  most  clearly,  the  principles 
which  are  not  only  concerned  in  the  development  of 
style  in  clothes,  but  in  that  of  the  allied  arts  as  well. 

vii 


504 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

i.         Mediaeval  Europe 3 

H.        The  Renaissance  in  Italy  (1400  to  1600)  ...  47 

in.       The  Renaissance  in  France  and  England.    The 

Sixteenth  Century 95 

iv.       The  Seventeenth  Century  hi  France,  Italy,  and 

England 149 

v.        The  Eighteenth  Century  in  France  and  Italy      .  193 

VI.       The  Eighteenth  Century  in  England  and  Amer- 
ica   238 

vn.      Characteristic  Nineteenth  Century  Styles     .      .  284 

vni.     Early  Twentieth  Century  Characteristics  .       .  318 

Index  353 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Last  Quarter  of  Eighteenth  Century.     Costumes  and 
Social  Life  in  France Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Beginning  of  the  Ninth  Century.  Charlemagne  .  .  10 
End  of  the  Ninth  Century.  Charles  IV  of  France  .  10 
About  the  Middle  of  the  Eleventh  Century.  Henry  I 

of  France 10 

Beginning  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.       Philippe  Au- 

guste  of  France 10 

Early  Thirteenth  Century.     French 18 

About  the  Middle  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.     Blanche 

of  Castille .       18 

Past  the  Middle  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.  St.  Louis  18 
Last  Quarter  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.  Philippe  III 

of  France 19 

Last  Part  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.  Isabel  of  Aragon  19 
End  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.  Philippe  IV  of  France  19 
Beginning  of  the  Fourteenth  Century.  Jeanne  de 

Navarre 19 

First  Quarter  of  the  Fourteenth  Century.     Louis  X  of 

France 26 

First  Quarter  of  the  Fourteenth  Century.     Marguerite 

de  Bourgogne 

Early  Fifteenth  Century.     French     ,      .  27 

Near  the  End  of  the  Fourteenth  Century.     Charles  VI 

of  France 34 

Last  Half  of  the  Fourteenth   Century.    Jeanne  de 

Bourbon 34 

xi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

About  theMiddle  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Charles  VII  34 
Third  Quarter  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Louis  XI  .  34 
Last  Quarter  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Charles  VIII  35 
Last  Quarter  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Anne  of  Bre- 

tagne 35 

Early  Fourteenth  Century.     Italian 35 

Mid-fourteenth  Century.     Italian 42 

Late  Fourteenth  Century.     Italian 43 

Around  Fourteen  Hundred.     Italian.     The  Fashions 

of  the  Late  Fourteenth  Century 50 

Around  Fourteen  Hundred.     Italian.     A  Good  Variety 

of  Costumes 50 

Early    Fifteenth    Century.     Italian.     Gothic     Spirit 

Mingled  with  Early  Conception  of  Classic      ...       51 
Early  Fifteenth   Century.     Religious  Scenario  with 

naive  Humanism  in  Manner  and  in  Costumes    .      .       51 
Second  Quarter  of  the  Fifteenth  Century     ....       58 
Second  Part  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.     Elemental  Im- 
pulses Seen  in  Bodies,  Faces,  Poses,  and  Costumes    .       59 
About  the  Middle  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.      Cos- 
tumes Show  Mediaeval  Pageant  Spirit      ....       66 
About  the  Middle  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.     More 

Clearly  Spiritual  Feeling  Expressed 66 

Late  Fifteenth  Century  in  Venice.     Luxurious  Mater- 
ials and  Peculiar  Headdresses 67 

Last  Half  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.    Costumes  Show  a 

Decided  Pagan  Classic  Conception 67 

Last  Half  of  the  Fifteenth  -Century.     Pagan  Classic 
Quality  of  Humanism,  and  Renaissance  Humanism 

Decoratively  Expressed 74 

Last  Half  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.     Early  Renais- 
sance Costumes 75 

Third  Quarter  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.     Refinement 

and  Simplicity  of  the  Renaissance 82 

xii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

Third  Quarter  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  The  Charm 
of  Unaffected  Humanism 82 

Late  Fifteenth  Century.  Early  Stages  of  the  Renais- 
sance in  Venice 83 

Late  Fifteenth  Century.  Interesting  Male  Costumes 
in  Venice 83 

End  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Tuscan  Lady  of  the 
High  Renaissance 90 

Last  Half  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Florentine 
Renaissance  Lady  Simply  and  Decoratively  Dressed  .  90 

End  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.     Madonna   ....       91 

Latter  Part  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Renaissance 
Lady  Richly  Dressed 91 

About  Fifteen  Hundred.     Male  Costume   ....       94 

Early  Sixteenth  Century.  Characteristic  Fashions  of 
Florentine  Ladies 95 

First  Half  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Duke  of  Ferrara     102 

Early  Sixteenth  Century.  Italian.  Renaissance  Cos- 
tumes Worn  by  the  Courtesans  of  Venice ....  103 

Early  Sixteenth  Century.  Venetian.  Costumes  Show 
Harmony  with  People  and  their  Surroundings  .  .  106 

First  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Italian.      .      107 

Second  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  German. 
Unique  Decorative  Quality  Redeems  Lack  of  Taste 
and  Love  of  Show 114 

Second  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  A  Venetian 
Aristocrat 114 

Second  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  Rich  and 
Distinguished  Harmony  of  all  Details  ....  115 

First  Half  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  Spanish  with 
Italian  Influence 115 

Second  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     English   .      122 

Second  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  French. 
Elegance,  Richness  and  Quality  of  Decoration  well 

Expressed 123 

xiii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

First  Half  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Italian   ...     130 
Middle  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Florentine.     The 

Compelling  Charm  of  Good  Breeding  and  Culture   .     130 
Near  the  Middle  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     German   .     131 
Last  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Italian   .      .     131 
Last  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     French.     The 
Tenacity  of  Tradition  in  Cut  Offset  by  Modern 

Details 138 

Last  Half  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  French.  Per- 
sistence of  the  Headdress  and  Beginning  of  the  Ruff  138 
Third  Quarter  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  Italian  .  139 
The  Third  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  English  139 
Last  Quarter  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  French  .  .  146 
Near  the  End  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.  Italian.  The 

Child  but  the  Miniature  of  the  Adult  in  Dress    .      .     146 
Last  Part  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Venetian .      .      .     147 
First   Half   of   Seventeenth   Century.     Italian.     The 
Gradual  Triumph  of  Material  Display  over  Classic 

and  Aesthetic  Ideas  in  Dress 147 

First    Half    of    the    Seventeenth    Century.     Italian. 
Characteristic  Qualities  in  Masculine  and  Feminine 

Apparel 154 

Early    Part    of   the    Seventeenth    Century.     French. 

Marie  de  Medici 154 

First    Half    of    the    Seventeenth    Century.     French. 

Anne  of  Austria 155 

Second  Quarter  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.     Foreign 

Possibilities  in  Style  for  Infants'  Clothes  ....     155 
First   Half    of    the    Seventeenth    Century.     English. 

James  I 162 

Before  the  Middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.     Ital- 
ian.    Passing  of  the  Ruff  and  Appearance  of  the 
Wide  Flat  Collar       ....                                   .162 
Around  the  Middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.     Flor- 
entine  163 

riv 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

Around  the  Middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century. 
Dutch 163 

Middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  Characteristic 
Fashions  from  Northwestern  Europe 170 

Middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  German.  For- 
eign Fashion  and  Decoration  Characteristically 
Worked  Out 170 

About  the  Middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  Span- 
ish  171 

Past  the  Middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.     French .     171 

A  Native  English  Taste  Adapting  French  Fashion  on 
French  Ground 178 

About  the  Same  Epoch  as  the  Two  Preceding  Illus- 
trations. Italian 178 

Third  Quarter  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  Venetian. 
The  Period  of  Louis  XIV  in  France 179 

Late  Seventeenth  Century.  French.  Military  Social 
Fashions  in  the  Period  of  Louis  XIV 179 

Late  Seventeenth  Century.  Transition  to  the  First  of 
the  Eighteenth  Century  Styles 186 

Near  the  End  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.     French   .      187 

The  End  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  French  Ele- 
gance, Refinement,  and  Grace 190 

Early  Eighteenth  Century.  French.  Luxury  of  the  Late 
Seventeenth  Century  with  Early  Louis  XV  Fashions  191 

The  Same  Period  further  Developed 198 

Portrait  of  the  Pompadour.  Expresses  the  Sanest, 
Most  Elegant,  and  Distinctively  Charming  Phase 
of  the  Style 199 

By  the  Middle  of  the  Century  there  was  considerable 
Freedom  in  Individual  Interpretation 202 

Early  in  the  Last  Quarter  of  the  Century  (the  period  of 
Louis  XVI)  Extravagance  Reached  its  Climax  .  .  203 

The  Culmination  of  the  Artificial  Period 210 

xv 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

About  1775.  French.  Interpretation  in  the  Style 
of  Louis  XVT  of  a  Piedmontese  Fashion  .  .  .  .  210 

Moreau  Gives  Here  the  Most  Charming  Costumes, 
Spirit  and  Environment  of  the  Most  Fascinating 
Social  Period 211 

The  Part  Played  Socially  by  the  Toilet  of  the  King  and 
His  Courtiers  is  Admirably  Revealed 211 

The  Piquant  Charm  of  the  Riding  Habit  and  Environ- 
ment in  Perfect  Keeping  With  Personages  and 
Technique 218 

Exaggeration  in  Style  and  Unrestrained  Ornamentation 
Giving  Place  to  Practical  Elegance  and  Natural  Charm  218 

Madame  Le  Brun  Expresses  Transition  from  Exag- 
geration to  the  Directoire  in  Costume  of  Adelaide 
de  Bourbon 219 

The  Hypocritical  Pose  of  the  Monarchic  Ideal,  with 
New  and  Conscious  Desire  to  be  Free  and  Individual 
Delightfully  Combined 219 

Enchanting  Harmony  between  Best  Traditions  of 
Late  Eighteenth  Century  Social  France  ....  226 

Undoubtedly  the  Arcadian  Point  of  View  had  much  to 
do  with  the  Simple  Grace  and  Cultured  Aestheticism 
of  these  Fashions 226 

Fascinating  Optimism  and  Gay  Abandon  Admirably 
Repeated  in  every  article  of  Dress 227 

Royal  Dictation  Supplanted  by  Individual  Expression     227 

The  Revolution  Wiped  Out  the  Grace,  Destroyed  the 
Charm,  and  Arrested  at  least  for  a  time  the  Activity 
of  the  Aesthetic  Creative  Power 234 

In  the  Directoire  Fashions  there  are  Almost  Unlimi- 
ted Ideas  for  Modern  Use 234 

It  Was  Not  Given  to  the  Ladies  to  Exploit  the  New 
and  Less  Autocratic  Phase  in  Fashion  of  Dress,  but 
it  was  Arrested  by  the  Empire 235 

xvi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.     Venetian   .     235 

Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.     Italian .      .     242 

About  1785.  Venetian.  The  Fashions  of  Versailles 
Interpreted  in  Italy  Have  a  Charm  all  their  Own  .  242 

About  the  Middle  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.     English     243 

About  1760.  English.  The  Early  Fashion  of  Petti- 
coat Prominence  and  the  Embroidered  Apron  .  .  243 

Beginning  of  the  Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. English 250 

About  the  Middle  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  New 
England.  Colonial 250 

A  Little  Past  the  Middle  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
Colonial 251 

The  Third  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.  Co- 
lonial   251 

About  1770.  Colonial.  Wife  of  the  Last  Royal 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire 258 

Beginning  of  the  Third  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century.  English 258 

About  1770.  English.  Distinctly  French  Influence  in 
the  Dressing  of  the  Hair 259 

Near  the  Beginning  of  the  Last  Quarter  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Century.  English.  Signs  of  the  Styles 
Both  of  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI 259 

Beginning  of  the  Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. English 266 

Beginning  of  the  Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. Colonial 266 

Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.     English .      .     267 

Middle  of  the  Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury. English 267 

English,  at  the  Height  of  the  Period  of  Louis  XVI  in 
France 270 

Another  Interpretation  of  the  Style  of  Louis  XVI   .      .     270 

About   1778.     English-American 271 

xvii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

About  1780.  English.  Reflection  of  the  French  Rev- 
olution in  England 271 

Late  Eighteenth  Century.     Colonial 278 

Last  Quarter  of  the  Eighteenth  Century.     English .      .     278 

Late  Eighteenth  Century.     English 279 

Around  1795.     English.     Influence  of  the  Directoire   .     279 

English,  Around  1790.  The  "Male  Style"  for  Women 
thus  Interpreted  and  Worn  Brooks  no  Criticism  .  282 

Early  Nineteenth  Century.  English.  The  Empire 
Style  of  France  Given  a  Bit  of  English  Conserva- 
tism   283 

A  Quaint  and  Fascinating  Directoire  Creation  of  the 
Last  Days  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  ....  290 

The  Spirit  of  the  Empire  Appears  in  this  Portrait  of 
Mme.  Lsetitia  Bonaparte,  Mother  of  the  Emperor  .  290 

The  Queen  of  Naples  no  doubt  Dictated  the  Fashions 
for  Her  Court  both  in  Setting  and  in  Costume  .  .  291 

The  Individuality  of  the  Princess  Pauline  is  well 
Shown 291 

Richness  and  Italian  Interpretation  of  Napoleon's  Cos- 
tumes for  Men  well  Exemplified  in  this  Portrait  of 
Prince  Borghese 298 

Royal  Austrian  Taste  here  Coupled  with  French  Em- 
pire Possibilities  in  the  Costume  of  Empress  Louise  29*9 

For  less  than  Royal  Personages  Simplicity  in  Ensemble 
with  Peculiarities  and  Exaggeration  in  Detail  mark 
the  Early  Part  of  this  Period 3(J6 

Originality,  not  Taste,  was  the  not  infrequent  Cause 
of  Fashion's  Combinations 30.6 

Many  Simple,  Lovely,  and  Adaptable  Costumes  Found 
Between  1815  and  1825  among  People  of  Taste  .  .  307 

This  Portrait  (Italian)  done  in  1829,  might  almost 
be  but  Two  Decades  Old,  or  even  less,  in  Some  of 

its  Details 307 

xviii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

From  1830  to  the  Middle  of  the  Century  "Caprice 
Knew  no  Bounds" 314 

Taken  from  "Journal  of  Paris  Fashions"  for  the 
Spring  of  1834.  Effect  more  Eloquent  than 
Comment 315 

Contrast  the  Quaint  Affectations  of  This  of  the  Same 
Date,  with  the  Supreme  Ugliness  of  the  Preceding 
One 322 

Our  Modern  Young  Women  may  Find  Solace  in  Queen 
Victoria's  Attempt  to  Cover  her  Ears 322 

Of  the  Fussiness  of  the  Mid-Century,  this  Portrait  of 
the  Queen  of  Louis  Philippe  is  Convincing  .  .  .  323 

While  Italy  was  Possessed  with  the  Desire  to  Appear 
Delicate,  this  Mid-century  Portrait  Shows  the  Epoch 
at  its  Best 323 

For  Unparalleled  Insipidity  of  Pose,  the  Period  of  about 
1862  is  Supreme 330 

By  1869  Redemption  from  the  Impossible  was  no 
longer  a  Matter  for  Speculation 331 

To  Behold  in  Silence  is  a  Privilege,  to  Comment  Super- 
fluous and  Senseless.  (July,  1877) 346 

An  Example  of  Fashion  Striving  for  Piquant 
Originality 347 


xix 


INTRODUCTION 

IT  DOES  seem  that  "there  is  nothing  new  under  the 
sun"  and  "there  is  nothing  either  good  or  bad  but  think- 
ing makes  it  so."  Men  are  fundamentally  the  same  in 
every  land  and  every  clime,  having  the  same  appetites 
and  longings,  with  the  same  basic  motives  and  vanities, 
differently  proportioned,  differently  stimulated,  there- 
fore somewhat  differently  expressed. 

The  intimate  connection  between  mind  and  material 
expression  is  daily  becoming  more  clearly  understood 
and  their  natural  relationships  grow  the  more  absorbing 
as  we  study  from  history  the  various  materials  and 
forms  through  which  human  conceptions  of  life  and  its 
needs  have  been  expressed. 

For  example :  man's  primal  need  for  food  and  shelter 
have  pressed  him  to  conceive  not  only  how  this  need 
shall  be  satisfied,  but  in  what  way  things  necessary 
to  this  end  shall  be  made  so  that  they  may  best  answer 
the  demand  for  which  they  exist.  Another  need,  just  as 
universal,  has  urged  him  to  fashion  things  in  such  a  way 
that  the  result  shall  be  (as  he  sees  it)  a  thing  of  beauty — 
that  is,  that  the  material,  form,  and  colour  which  he  has 
used  shall  be  so  proportioned  that  the  aesthetic  sense, 
as  well  as  the  physical  appetite,  shall  be  satisfied 
through"  the  thing  created. 

The  House  and  Clothes  have  answered  the  human 
requirement  for  shelter  and,  whether  we  will  or  not, 
they  also  express  the  individual  and  the  national  ideal 

xxi 


INTRODUCTION 

of  beauty  in  colour  and  in  form,  satisfying  in  this  way 
the  demands  of  the  aesthetic  instinct.  The  degree  of 
satisfaction  these  things  give  the  cultivated  sesthetic 
sense  is  the  measure  of  their  artistic  value,  it  is  not  their 
period,  their  oddity,  or  their  cost  that  determines  it. 

These  two  aspects  of  function  and  beauty,  in  so  far 
as  art  is  concerned,  must  be  observed  if  a  production 
is  to  be  a  success  in  any  field  of  man's  creative  genius; 
but  in  the  matter  of  clothes  or  costumes  (and  we  shall 
use  these  terms  synonymously  in  this  work)  there  are 
other  considerajtions_wliich  affect  his  work  more  pro- 
nouncedly than  in  other  fields,  and  must  therefore  be 
given  a  place  in  the  examination  of  each  period,  and  of 
those  cases  where  a  mode  endured  too  short  a  time  for 
the  crystallization  of  a  definite  style. 

The  first  of  these  mighty  influences  we  will  call  fash- 
ion. While  this  has  doubtless  greatly  influenced  archi- 
tecture, furniture,  manner  of  painting  and  of  decoration, 
clothes  have  undoubtedly  felt  its  power  more  quickly, 
more  keenly  and  sometimes  more  fatally  to  the  criter- 
ions  of  good  sense  and  taste. 

The  reasons  for  this  are  obvious.  First,  there  is  the 
-*eKgious  or  eeelesiastical  element.  Spiritual  concepts 
have  found  expression  in  combinations  of  material, 
design,  and  colour  which  have  become  fixed  or  symbolic 
of  religious  ideas.  At  times  it  has  been  the  fashion  to 
ape  these  forms  so  that  their  use  has  become  general  in 
secular  life. 

By  reason  of  their  political  control  a  monarch  or  his 
satellites  could,  throughtRe  breadth  of  their  power,  so 
forcibly  impress  their  personal  preferences  and  idiosyn- 
crasies, first  on  the  ruling  class  and  then,  through  their 

xxii 


INTRODUCTION 

tendency  to  imitation,  on  all  classes  below  them,  that 
they  became  absolute  dictators  of  fashion.  Sometimes 
this  centralized  power  lasted  for  a  sufficient  time  and 
was  powerful  enough  to  crystallize  the  fashion  into  a 
fixed  form,  whereupon  it  became  a  style,  as  in  the  reign 
of  Francis  I,  Louis  XIV,  or  Queen  Elizabeth. 

It  is  in  social  life,  however,  that  the  element  of  fash- 
ion has  mainly  flourished  and  only  as  ecclesiastical  or 
political  ideals  were  associated  with  or  contributory  to 
the  social  order  were  they  prolific  sources  for  fashion's 
exploitation.  Sometimes  it  has  been  the  whim  to 
be  modest,  in  affected  humility;  at  other  times  it  has 
pleased  social  fancy  to  seem  to  be  "old-fashioned"  or 
mayhap  classic  in  appearance.  Either  through  a  de- 
sire for  novelty  or  a  wish  to  express  new  thoughts  and 
emotions,  an  abnormal  love  for  sumptuous  display  or  an 
apparently  unquenchable  thirst  for  the  foreign  or  the 
grotesque,  has  appeared  with  equal  frequency. 

All  these  and  many  other  motives  found  in  the  minds 
of  men  have  caused  them  to  draw  from  any  source  that 
seemed  to  give  promise  of  a  new  material  element  capa- 
ble of  lending  itself  to  the  general  expression  of  a  given 
social  order.  The  results  in  each  period  or  division 
of  time  speak  eloquently  of  the  quality  of  its  elements. 

Second,  fashion's  most  powerful  accomplice  is  now, 
and  undoubtedly  always  has  been,  what  we  term  "the 
commercial  interests,"  i.e.  the  selfish  desire  of  one 
man  to  enrich  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  weaknesses 
of  others.  Where  could  a  better  field  be  found  ?  Then, 
too,  the  element  of  personal  vanity  has  not  been  left 
out  of  any  one  of  us.  In  most  of  us  it  seems  to  outstrip  x 
all  else  in  rapidity  of  growth  and  in  the  devising  of  ways 

xxiii 


INTRODUCTION 

and  means  for  its  satisfaction.  Closely  associated  with 
this  quality  is  the  determination  not  to  be  outdone  by 
one's  neighbour  and  the  desire  to  shine  by  comparison 
with  him.  What  has  this  not  led  man  to  do? 

"Commercial  interests"  have  never  been  unmindful 
of  these  and  other  human  weaknesses  and  while  they 
have  flourished,  fashion,  too,  has  become  incredibly 
successful  in  dictating  what  people  should  wear  and 
when  they  should  wear  it.  We  need  to  remind  our- 
selves again  and  again  to  what  lengths  men  have  gone 
that  fashion  might  be  obeyed  and  we  should  carefully 
calculate  the  results.  In  this,  surely,  everyone  will  find 
human  interest. 

The  powerful  influences  of  geography,  time,  social  ancP 
ethical  standards,  and  strong  personalities,  as  well  as  prin- 
ciples of  art,  on  the  development  of  clothes  as  a  social 
art  expression,  may  perhaps  be  mentioned  here,  though 
they  are  too  obvious  to  require  prolonged  discussion. 

Some  dominant  idea  has  been  developed  in  every  age 
and  by  every  people.  Sometimes  it  was  political,  often 
purely  social,  though  in  a  very  few  cases  the  spiritual 
ideal  seemed  for  a  period  to  be  striving  vigorously  to 
appear  in  what  the  best  minds  of  the  time  considered 
an  adequate  expression  of  the  ideal. 

The  results  in  costume,  as  in  other  mediums,  are 
but  a  material  record  of  the  great  ideals  that  swayed 
the  nations  at  the  time  of  their  creation.  In  other 
words,  a  man's  clothes,  like  other  reactions  to  his 
needs,  are  his  material  response  to  a  demand  for  them, 
and  by  the  results  he  must  stand  or  fall,  whether  judged 
commercially,  socially,  artistically,  ethically,  or  by  a 
simple  standard  of  common  sense. 

XXIV 


THE    PSYCHOLOGY 
OF    DRESS 


CHAPTER 


ONE 


MEDIEVAL   EUROPE 


THE  term  " Mediaeval"  has  been  variously  inter- 
preted as  a  span  of  time  included  between  established 
dates,  as  almost  anything  not  commonly  reckoned  as 
modern,  or  as  a  vague  something  quite  apart  from  things 
intimately  concerning  us  as  individuals  or  as  nations. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  some  truth  about  each  of 
these  views  but  none  of  them  gives  the  fundamental 
truth  which  is  after  all  the  most  important. 

Medievalism  was  first  of  all  an  institution,  a  real, 
living  thing.  It  had  its  own  ideals,  its  individual 
thoughts  and  feelings,  its  peculiar  practices,  and  an 
externalized  material  expression  peculiarly  its  own,  yet 
somewhat  related  with  all  that  had  gone  before,  and 
wholly  inseparable  from  what  we  know  as  the  modern 
social  order. 

At  first  this  statement  may  seem  to  be  a  contradic- 
tion, but  it  is  not.  Medievalism  may  perhaps  be  lik- 
ened, in  a  way,  to  that  period  in  youth  when  one's 
ideals  are  fresh,  romantic,  chivalrous,  perhaps  even 
mystic;  before  contact  with  the  cold  realities  of  life 
has  hardened  the  sensibilities,  or  the  development  of 
reason  has  supplanted  the  spontaneous  play  of  the 
emotions,  and  before  materialism  has  won  an  illegiti- 
mate ascendency  over  spiritual  conception.  Everyone 

3 


. 
PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

realizes  that  there  was  such  a  period  in  his  own  life  and 
he  will  find  just  such  another  state  in  the  development 
of  the  national  soul  of  which  he  is  a  part.  This  is 
mediae  valism. 

We  are  particularly  interested  in  this  state  of  mind  as 
it  was  manifested  in  Europe  (especially  in  France,  Italy, 
and  England),  first  because  of  the  perfection  of  its  ex- 
pression there  and  then  because  of  its  direct  contribu- 
tion to  what  we  know  as  the  modern  world,  or  the  civili- 
zation of  which  we  are  a  part. 

Considered  from  the  viewpoint  of  time,  this  period 
may  be  approximately  placed  between  the  twelfth  and 
the  fifteenth  centuries,  although  some  historians  in- 
clude the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  or  the  "dark 
ages,"  as  others  term  them.  The  truth  is  that  its  be- 
ginnings are  to  be  found  in  the  birth  of  Christianity  and 
its  youthful  growth  traced  in  the  decline  and  decay  of 
Greco-Roman  civilization,  for  in  this  particular  ideal  a 
new  conception  of  the  relation  of  spirit  with  material 
was  being  formed,  and  the  flower  of  it  burst  forth  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  being  generally  known 
by  the  somewhat  indefinite  name  of  the  Gothic  period, 
while  its  results  were  classed  as  Gothic  Art. 

Medievalism  can  hardly  be  viewed  from  the  stand- 
point of  antiquity,  for  it  is  rather  the  slow  death  of  the 
antique  ideals  or  at  least  the  gradual  sinking  into  ob- 
scurity of  the  conceptions,  practices,  and  works  of  the 
ancients,  as  the  various  nations  of  Christendom  slowly 
espoused  the  new  order,  adapting  its  practices  to  new 
conditions,  and  originating  new  forms  of  expression  as 
other  needs  became  manifest.  The  finest  and  perhaps 
the  purest  expression  of  this  period  is  found  in  France, 
4 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

certainly  when  seen  from  the  standpoint  of  art,  Italian 
expression  being  more  indissolubly  mixed  with  the 
antique,  while  England's  productions  were  crude,  and 
less  delicately  fashioned.  The  reasons  for  this  will  ap- 
pear as  we  proceed. 

If  we  think  of  this  period  as  unrelated  to  ourselves 
or  to  modern  life,  we  are  reminded  that  to  it  we  owe  not 
only  our  most  perfect  conceptions  of  western  mystic 
spiritual  idealism  with  its  attendant  expressions  in 
architecture,  clothes,  and  the  decorative  arts,  but  the 
system  of  Chivalry  with  its  delightful  accessories,  which 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  deferential  elegance  of  the 
Renaissance  and,  in  a  more  indirect  way,  for  the  en- 
chanting charm  of  the  eighteenth-century  social  order. 

This  period  was  marked  not  only  as  one  of  spiritual 
victory  for  our  civilization,  but  as  the  era  of  our  social 
escape  from  barbarism  as  well.  Not  that  we  have  al- 
ways kept  clearly  in  sight  this  spiritual  exaltation  or 
that  we  have  not,  ever  and  anon,  turned  to  the  results 
of  these  back-slidings ;  indeed,  it  is  in  just  this  fluctua- 
tion of  influences,  diversions,  and  reversions  that  the 
intense  human  interest  of  the  various  periods  lies,  and 
there  is  surely  no  better  field  in  which  to  trace  the 
devious  paths  of  human  thought  than  in  that  of 
clothes,  where  man  has  ever  given  free  play  to  self- 
expression,  in  a  way  which,  though  not  always  a  credit  | 
to  his  intelligence,  is  yet  quite  true  to  his  innermost 
self,  whether  he  will  acknowledge  it  or  not.  It  is  here 
that  he  has  forgotten  at  times  the  presence  of  a  spiritual 
ideal,  the  existence  of  a  faculty  called  intellect  and  he 
seems  to  have  denied  or  silenced  his  reason,  his  ethics, 
and  his  common  sense;  yet  even  in  such  periods  clothes 

5 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

as  a  personal  expression  are  interesting  and  amusing, 
if  neither  sensible  nor  edifying. 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the  ideal  which,  when 
formulated,  was  expressed  in  what  we  know  as  Medi- 
aeval Gothic  Art.  Greek,  or  Classic  civilization  sought 
the  exaltation  of^materi^lJh^oiigL^sesthetic  or-artistic 
treatment^ and  formulated  its  spiritual  and  social  exist- 
ence to  this  end.  This  conception  became  for  them  a 
religion,  and  the  art  expression  which  resulted  showed 
the  highest  development  of  intellectual  pure  form  in 
material  that  the  world  has  yet  known.  We  need  only 
recall  here  how  the  Roman,  modifying  this  ideal  in  a 
less  exalted  conception  of  material  form,  debased  pro- 
portionately his  expression,  nor  need  we  trace  the  conse- 
quent decline  and  ultimate  decay  of  the  whole  institu- 
tion known  as  Roman  civilization.  Decayed  it  was,  but 
not  dead,  for  the  spirit  lived  though  the  body  was 
inert,  and  it  has  appeared  and  reappeared  in  new  forms, 
giving  the  intellectual  pure  form  basis  for  our  greatest 
succeeding  periods  and,  we  may  add,  the  greatest  hope 
for  the  future. 

It  was  the  business  of  medisevalism  to  displace  this 
ideal  for  one  of  its  own  which  incited  exaltation  of  the 
spirit  through  neglect  of  the  material,  or  mortification 
of  the  flesh,  in  the  belief  that  with  the  attainment 
of  spiritual  ecstasy  materials  would  lend  themselves  to 
the  attempt  to  express  it  and  that  spiritual  emotional- 
ism would  find  a  ready  aesthetic  reaction.  In  this  it 
was  not  mistaken  and  thus  the  social  expression  of  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  was  second  to,  and 
always  influenced  by,  the  ecclesiastic  ideal.  Gradu- 
ally, however,  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
6 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

turies,  due  in  part  to  the  founding  of  the  institution 
known  as  Chivalry,  secular  life  began  to  make  its  ap- 
peal felt;  over-wrought  imagination  sought  relaxation; 
the  body,  through  the  appetites,  re-asserted  itself,  so 
that  by  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  death 
blow  to  the  mediaeval  ideal  had  been  dealt  (particularly 
in  Italy),  a  new  ideal  was  already  forecast  and  a  new 
order — namely,  the  Renaissance,  or  the  first  period  of 
modern  civilization,  was  initiated. 

Perhaps  it  may  appear  that  there  is  slight  need  to 
recall  these  bare  facts  in  connection  with  the  thought 
of  mediaeval  clothes  and  yet  we  recollect  that  man 
fashions  as  best  he  knows,  not  only  clothes  but  other 
essentials,  according  to  his  state  of  mind  and  in  such 
manner  as  he  believes  at  the  time  best  achieves  the  -^ 
satisfaction  of  his  need.  Admitting  this,  there  is  but 
one  way  to  understand  and  appreciate  results — namely, 
by  investigating  and  becoming  familiar  with  the  causes 
which  underlie  the  production  of  these  results.  Here 
lies  the  fascination  of  approaching  any  historic  art 
period  from  the  psychological  standpoint  rather  than 
from  that  of  the  chronological  or  mechanical.  If  man 
felt  no  needs  he  would  have  no  impulse  to  create.  Feel- 
ing the  need  calls  for  creative  thought  as  to  what  will 
satisfy  it  and  involves  a  demand  for  material  and  crafts- 
manship to  give  the  thought  form.  But  this  is  not  all, 
the  aesthetic  sense  demands  beauty  as  its  rightful  satis- 
faction and  this  quality,  like  others,  appears  in  pro- 
portion to  its  presence  in  the  mind  of  him  who  creates, 
no  more,  no  less.  That  is,  we  shall  recognize  and  ap- 
preciate exactly  as  much  as  we  can  react  to  and  this  is 
measured  by  the  presence  of  the  like  quality  in  our  own 

7 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

conception  of  the  created  thing.  If  there  were  no 
clouds  one  could  always,  during  the  day,  find  the  sun.- 
Often  too  much  technique,  too  much  fashion,  or  too 
much  prejudice,  may  obscure  art  or  perchance  the  re- 
verse may  be  equally  true.  We  shall  see  this  freely 
illustrated  in  our  study  of  period  clothes,  which  are  not 
always  made  for  their  aesthetic  charm  any  more  than 
they  are  made  to  facilitate  human  movement.  It  is, 
however,  the  state  of  mind  in  which  they  are  con- 
ceived that  determines  this  quality-ratio  in  the  inde- 
scribable combinations  we  so  often  find. 

Mediaeval  art  found  its  fullest  and  freest  expression 
in  the  ecclesiastical  field.  Its  churches,  its  monasteries, 
and  its  libraries  demanded  the  greatest  builders,  the 
finest  sculptors,  and  the  choicest  artists  to  be  found. 
Such  costumes  as  were  essential  to  the  ritual  of  the 
church  claimed  the  greatest  share  of  attention.  This 
ecclesiastical  dominance  influenced  the  kind  of  ma- 
terials produced,  determined  largely  the  colours  used, 
and  dictated  not  only  the  design  of  the  pattern  but  the 
style  of  the  garments,  particularly  in  the  tenth  and/ 
eleventh  centuries  and  later  still  in  France,  which  was 
less  committed  to  the  old  order  and  more  ecstatically 
fanatical  in  its  religious  creative  expression.  In  all 
countries  where  Christianity  had  been  accepted  and 
during  the  positive  sway  of  the  feudal  system  there  was 
a  pronounced  ecclesiastical  mode  always  more  or  less 
influencing  even  the  secular  costumes  of  the  social 
order. 

Under  the  feudal  system  only  the  great  barons  and 
their  families  wore  fine  clothes,  and  these  were  gener- 
ally crude  and  quite  individual  in  their  style  as  they 
8 


MEDIEVAL  EUROPE 

primarily  an  answer  to  the  need  for  protection  from 

e  elements,  and  secondarily  a  symbolic  expression  of 
rank  and  importance.  The  individual  baron's  style 
grew  out  of  his  needs  and  was  formed  by  his  association 
with  other  and  more  elaborately  accoutred  families 
as  well  as  by  the  ecclesiastical  models  with  which  he 
came  particularly  in  contact.  Tradition,  too,  had  its  ef- 
fect, especially  during  the  last  decades  of  feudalistic 
domination,  when  each  family  had  worked  out  its  own 
distinguishing  characteristics. 

During  the  eleventh  century  the  great  mediaeval 
social  system  known  in  history  as  Chivalry  was  founded 
in  France.  This  system  was  destined  to  revolutionize 
the  ethics,  morals,  and  manners,  first  of  France,  then  of 
Italy,  England,  and  other  European  countries  where  it 
found  a  place  in  the  social  fabric. 

To  realize  the  power,  scope,  and  influence  of  the  new 
order  we  must  recall  something  of  its  nature,  as  well 
as  its  relation  to  the  barbaric  feudal  system  then  exist- 
ing. It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century, 
during  the  reign  of  Henry  I  of  France,  that  some  nobles, 
ashamed  of  their  lives  of  brigandage,  consecrated  them- 
selves and  their  implements  of  war  to  God's  service, 
agreeing  that  in  the  future  they  would  only  "fight 
for  right  and  benevolence."  This  was  the  beginning 
of  what  is  known  as  Knight  Errantry,  or  Chivalry, 
which  spread  over  France,  in  fact  over  Europe,  with  sur- 
prising rapidity. 

When  fully  worked  out,  every  boy  of  noble  birth  was 
trained  to  knighthood.  At  the  age  of  seven  he  was 
apprenticed  to  some  great  lord  as  page.  He  attended 
particularly  on  the  ladies  and  was  taught  from  the  first 

1) 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

to  honour  God,  reverence  women,  obey  promptly, 
to  respect  Christianity.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
came  an  esquire  and  was  then  assigned  to  service  in  the 
various  departments  of  the  household  of  the  lord  whom 
he  served;  for  example,  one  carved  at  the  dinner  table 
and  distributed  the  food  to  the  guests.  We  read  that 
he  was  dressed  in  scarlet,  wore  a  chaplet  on  his  head,  a 
coloured  girdle  around  his  waist,  that  he  hung  a  horn 
around  his  neck,  and  carried  a  white  wand.  In  manner 
he  must  be  exact,  respectful,  attentive,  and  always 
alert. 

Another  esquire  had  charge  of  the  stables,  attended 
the  horses,  assisted  his  lord  to  mount  and  dismount,  and 
directed  the  stable  service.  He  was  dressed  in  brown 
and  white,  but  when  abroad  with  his  master  wore  blue 
and  white,  or  sometimes  gold  and  white.  There  was 
another  called  an  armour-bearer.  He  performed  for  his 
lord  the  duties  now  performed  by  a  valet,  carried  the 
armour,  and  accompanied  his  lord  on  expeditions  of 
pleasure  or  war,  as  did  the  shield-bearer,  who  acted  in  a 
somewhat  similar  capacity. 

Each  lord  had  regular  masters  to  teach  his  pages  and 
esquires  their  respective  duties,  and  they  were  also 
taught  to  sing,  play  the  harp  and  lute,  to  dance,  hunt, 
to  salute  properly,  and  to  wait  upon  the  ladies  of  the 
household.  In  some  cases  they  were  even  expected  to 
read  and  compose  verses.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  the 
esquire  became  a  knight  and  was  entitled  to  be  called 
"Sir"  and  his  wife,  if  he  had  one,  to  be  called  "Lady." 
His  flag  was  the  pennon.  When  a  knight  committed 
an  offense  against  another  he  was  tried  and  punished 
with  great  severity.  His  sword  was  broken,  his 
10 


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3 


MEDIEVAL  EUROPE 

taken,  and  other  public  disgraces  heaped  upon  him,  un- 
til he  was  permanently  eliminated  from  his  social  class. 

Not  long  after  the  establishment  of  this  system  a  re- 
markable change  was  observed  in  the  manners,  tastes, 
amusements,  and  general  pursuits  of  the  social  unit. 
^Refinement,  elegance,  and  delicacy  characterized  their 
lives.  Chastity,  politeness,  chivalry,  and  truth  were 
the  watchwords  of  the  time.  This  stimulated  the  aes- 
thetic and  poetic  instincts  and  changed  the  character 
of  literature;  at  the  same  tune  the  elaborately  set  social 
system  caused  a  great  trade  revival.  Invention  was 
stimulated,  towns  became  important,  and  a  working 
middle  class  was  evolved,  eventually  undermining  the 
feudal  system  where  but  two  classes,  lords  and  serfs, 
existed. 

The  manufacture  of  armour  and  fine  materials  for 
clothes,  the  training  of  horses,  and  the  general  exchange 
of  necessities  and  luxuries  opened  up  communication 
between  distant  parts  of  the  country  as  well  as  between 
France  and  other  countries.  The  mode  of  domestic 
life  increased  the  number  of  servants,  the  desire  for 
luxuries  multiplied,  and  the  effect  of  comfort  and  af- 
fluence was  apparent  everywhere. 

We  cannot  believe,  however,  that  even  with  the  high 
ideals  embodied  in  the  institution  of  Chivalry,  the  ideal 
state  really  existed.  Many  were  slow  to  practice  the 
code  which  they  publicly  espoused.  Tradition  was 
strong,  the  people  were  still  human,  selfish,  vain,  and 
somewhat  undeveloped;  yet  this  system  may  properly 
be  said  to  have  sounded  the  death  knell  of  heathen  bar- 
barism and  to  have  marked  the  beginning  of  Christian 
civilization  as  we  know  it  to-day. 

11 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

In  the  last  decade  of  the  eleventh  century  began  the 
Crusades,  or  religious  wars,  between  the  Christians  of 
the  West  and  the  Mohammedans  of  the  East  for  the 
domination  of  Palestine.  At  first  the  claim  made  was 
only  for  the  right  to  visit  the  holy  sepulchre,  but  as  the 
Christian  West  gradually  lost  its  distinctive  idealism 
and  became  increasingly  ambitious,  it  determined  to 
own  and  to  rule  the  whole  of  the  Holy  Land.  With  the 
detailed  success  of  the  first  crusade  "through  fire  and 
sword,"  with  the  strifes  and  hardships  and  partial 
successes  and  failures  of  the  succeeding  expeditions, 
we  are  not  here  particularly  concerned,  but  in  the  ef- 
fect of  these  wars  on  western  thought  and  consequently 
upon  western  practices  we  have  a  particular  interest, 
when  they  are  seen  in  relation  to  the  new  order  of 
Chivalry,  and  to  the  general  life  expression  of  the 
twelfth  and  succeeding  centuries  of  mediae valism. 
Many  men  consecrated  their  lives  to  these  expeditions, 
first  selling  their  estates  to  the  middle  classes  for  ready 
money.  These  tradesmen,  thousands  in  number,  in- 
creased the  bourgeoisie  and  changed  the  balance  of  in- 
fluence from  the  nobles  to  the  middle  class;  this  state  of 
things  in  turn  reacted,  raising  the  serfs  to  the  former 
position  of  the  middle  class  and  assisting  further  to  dis- 
place the  old  order. 

Experience  in  sea  travel  stimulated  ship  building. 
The  crusaders  saw  life  from  another  angle  by  virtue 
of  their  new  associations.  Their  respect  for  science 
and  literature  was  increased.  Their  ideas  on  agricul- 
ture and  commerce  were  broadened,  and  their  minds 
were  filled  with  new  conceptions  and  new  expressions 
for  old  ones.  They  brought  back  new  and  strange 
12 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

clothes  of  fantastic  and  gorgeous  patterns,  gems  and 
precious  jewels,  ornaments  wrought  in  a  curious  man- 
ner, implements  and  garments  strangely  fashioned. 
All  this  and  much  more  was  added  to  the  already  well- 
established  social  expression  of  the  period  of  Chivalry: 

A  rapid  development  in  manufactures  increased  the 
size  of  towns  until  the  feudal  estates  gave  place  to  them 
in  power.  During  the  reign  of  Louis  VI  (1108  to  1137) 
the  first  Charter  of  Communities  was  granted  to  Laon 
and  Amiens.  Other  grants  soon  followed  and  thus 
autocratic  power  was  moved  from  the  feudal  lord  to 
the  town  community.  This  communal  interest  cre- 
ated in  the  minds  of  the  masses  a  civic  ideal,  with  com- 
mon aims,  a  pride  in  personal  endeavour,  soon  manifes t 
in  the  development  of  the  Craft  Guilds,  and  a  desire  for 
the  fundamental  liberties  and  privileges  of  citizenship 
never  conceived  under  the  feudal  system.  All  this  was 
a  direct  stimulus  to  the  creative  faculty  of  the  time  as 
well  as  a  development  of  the  ideal  of  civilization.  Its 
effects  were  first  seen  in  the  number  and  style  of  eccles- 
iastical buildings  that  came  into  being  during  the 
next  century.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the 
creative  impulse  began  to  react  on  the  new  social  order, 
until,  by  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  its 
results  claimed  a  large  share  of  attention  from  those  who 
ruled  and  those  who  had  grown  rich  through  domestic 
trade,  or  commerce  with  the  East  and  the  Mediterran- 
ean countries. 

In  the  reign  of  Louis  VII,  the  third  quarter  of  the 
twelth  century,  a  copy  of  the  "Institutes,"  or  the 
laws  of  Justinian,  was  discovered.  This  institution, 
simple  in  itself,  soon  changed  the  educational  current 

13 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

in  all  Christendom.  Universities  sprang  up,  the  study 
of  law  became  a  mania,  and  a  new  code  of  civil  law  dis- 
placed, or  rather  made  over,  the  feudal  laws,  adding  the 
imperial  Roman  idea  of  civil  jurisprudence  to  the  new 
phase  of  civilization.  Formerly  trial  was  by  combat  or 
appeals  to  God  and  finally  to  arms,  but  from  this  time 
pleaders  and  juries  were  appointed  and  a  crude  scale  of 
punishment  in  proportion  to  the  offence  was  estab- 
lished. These  steps  taken  within  a  century — tjiejnrth. 
of  Chivalry,  the  Crusades,  the  Charter  of  Communities, 
and  the  revival  of  civil  law — form  the  foundation  upon 
which  was  matured  the  system  known  as  Medisevalism. 

In  the  reign  of  Philip  II  (1180  to  1223)  we  find  the  de- 
velopment of  these  elements  and  their  crystallization 
into  an  institution  which  really  functioned.  In  fact 
Philip  Augustus  is  said  to  have  done  for  France  what 
Caesar  did  for  Rome.  The  narrow  conventionalism 
and  the  rigid  formalism  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
jcenturies  gave  way  before  the  new  order. 

We  read  that  during  the  reign  of  Philippe  tourna- 
ments were  often  given.  Not  only  were  the  guests  of 
noble  origin,  but  there  were  crowds  of  troubadours 
with  their  instruments,  minstrels,  fools,  jugglers,  dan- 
cers, and  other  strange  and  amusing  people.  Booths 
and  tents  were  raised  around  the  castle  gate  and  mer- 
chants of  all  sorts  hastened  thither  with  their  wares 
of  cloth-of-gold  and  silver,  velvets  and  silks,  stuffs  of 
all  kinds,  ermine  and  other  furs,  silver  cups,  gold  clasps, 
ornaments  of  great  variety  for  lords  and  ladies,  cutlery, 
armour,  and  embroidered  articles  of  personal  adorn- 
ment, as  well  as  trifles  for  amusement.  Flags,  banners, 
pennants,  and  lovely  tapestries  hung  and  fluttered  from 
14 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

the  windows  and  balconies  of  the  chateaux.  These 
tournaments  persisted,  growing  in  number  and  gorgeous 
sumptuousness  throughout  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries. 

The  helmet  worn  at  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century 
was  a  flat  top  steel  one,  with  a  steel  hoop  under  the 
chin  and  a  sort  of  grate  over  the  face.  When  this  was 
removed  the  knight  put  on  a  velvet  cap  the  colour  of 
which  matched  his  garments.  This  was  ornamented 
with  jewels  and  the  plumes  were  such  that  when  the 
knights  assembled  on  the  battlefield  nothing  could 
equal  the  splendour  of  their  costumes.  Robes  of  bril- 
liant scarlet,  ornaments  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones,  fine  furs,  the  finest  silks,  the  most  costly  armour, 
were  theirs  by  law.  Their  gaily  decked  horses  formed 
an  inconceivable  mass  of  splendour.  Each  knight  was 
attended  by  his  esquire  and  a  troop  of  troubadours 
and  fools  decked  in  the  most  gorgeous  finery. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  with  all  the  huge  chat- 
eaux, the  wealth  of  gorgeous  material,  the  sumptuous 
and  luxurious  ensemble  of  colour,  pattern,  and  gems, 
domestic  essentials  and  comforts  of  life  were  almost  un- 
known. The  rooms  were  large,  with  no  ceiling  but  a 
vaulted  roof.  The  sides  were  bare  and  decorated  with 
armour,  swords,  helmets,  battle-axes-  and  knives. 
Banners  and  tapestries  were  hung  about,  while  the  floor 
was  covered  thick  with  straw  and  rushes.  Tables  and 
benches  were  crude.  Dining  tables  were  covered  with 
damask  cloth  and  the  place  of  each  guest  marked  by  a 
small  loaf  of  bread  covered  by  a  napkin,  a  knife  being 
sometimes  placed  with  it.  Forks  were  unknown,  and 
before  the  twelfth  century  the  girdle  dagger  was  used 

15 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

in  place  of  a  knife.  The  dishes  consisted  of  wooden 
platters,  pewter  trenchers,  and  silver  drinking  vessels 
done  in  fantastic  designs. 

One  writer  has  said:  "In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  when  love  was  a  duty,  a  universal  thing,  ladies 
were  much  more  frank  and  open  than  they  are  now. 
They  were  all  taught  the  apothecary's  art,  their  duty 
being  to  nurse  the  wounded  knight.  No  doubt  this 
intercourse  often  led  to  mutual  attachment,  but  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  abused  by  the  chivalrous 
spirits  of  that  romantic  age." 

Literature  was  of  course  limited,  few  even  of  the 
nobles  being  able  to  read  or  write. 

It  is  related  that  Philip  II  on  state  occasions  wore  a 
wide  tunic  of  purple  silk  confined  at  the  waist  by  a 
golden  girdle  from  which  hung  his  sword.  The  neck 
and  sleeves  were  tied  with  gold,  while  over  his  shoulders 
was  flung  a  crimson  mantle  of  silk  lined  with  ermine. 
The  train  fell  in  ample  folds  upon  the  floor.  On  his 
head  he  wore  a  jewelled  cap  of  crimson  velvet,  his  long 
hair  falling  below  his  shoulders. 

The  same  authority  tells  us  that  the  nobles,  toward 
the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  were  regally  clothed. 
Their  mantles  were  broader  than  in  the  preceding  part 
of  the  century,  their  decorations  were  more  magnificent 
and  the  stuff  they  wore  much  more  gorgeous.  The 
borders  of  the  tunic  and  mantles  were  indented.  They 
wore  stockings  with  sandals  of  purple  trimmed  with  gold, 
and  they  bandaged  their  legs.  Their  embroidered  gloves 
had  jewelled  backs,  and  under  the  cap  of  velvet  on  their 
heads  their  hair,  curled  with  crisping  irons,  hung,  bound 
with  ribbons,  yet  they  wore  beards  and  moustaches. 
16 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

In  this  reign  women  were  less  extravagant.  Enor- 
mous cuffs  were  dropped,  sleeves  were  made  tight, 
terminating  at  the  wrist.  Green  was  the  fashionable 
colour  and  robes  were  lined  with  sendal  silk  instead  of 
fur,  and  were  embroidered.  A  sort  of  veil  was  wrapped 
about  the  head  and  bound  to  the  forehead  by  a  jewelled 
fillet.  Though  shoes  were  worn,  the  robe  was  made  so 
long  that  only  the  toes  could  be  seen. 

Particular  mention  is  made  of  the  costumes  in  the 
reign  of  Philippe  le  Bel  (1285  to  1314).  One  authority 
says:  "The  costumes  in  the  reign  of  Philippe  le  Bel  were 
very  graceful.  Gentlemen,  except  in  camps,  wore 
long  tunics  and  capes.  Ladies  wore  a  high  tight  bodice 
fitting  the  shape,  and  over  it  an  open  robe  trimmed  with 
gold  or  blue.  The  size  of  the  cloak  and  robe,  breadth 
of  the  trimming,  and  the  number  of  stuffs  each  person 
was  permitted  to  possess  were  regulated  by  law.  The 
higher  the  rank,  the  greater  the  variety  allowed,  the 
larger  the  cloak  and  robe,  and  the  broader  their  trim- 
mings. Hoods  were  universal,  but  their  size  and  shape 
was  not  left  to  the  caprice  of  their  owners.  The  nobles 
wore  large  hoods  hanging  to  their  heels,  the  common 
people  little  sugar-loafed  cowls." 

As  we  read  these  restrictions  and  regulations  we  are 
reminded  of  those  devised  by  our  Puritan  New  England 
ancestors  in  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  size  of 
one's  fortune  and  the  percentage  of  it  contributed  to 
the  church,  determined  the  material  of  which  his 
clothes  might  be  made,  as  well  as  the  kind  and  amount 
of  lace  permitted  in  their  decoration. 

The  ideals  of  medisevalism  and  the  life  which  they 
inspired  in  France  reached  their  highest  development  by 

17 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  when  a  gradual  dis- 
integration set  in,  which  by  1350  became  well  defined. 
This  process  was  hastened  by  the  Hundred  Years'  War, 
so  that  by  the  time  France  made  peace,  in  1453,  medi- 
aeval ideals  and  practices  were  no  longer  operative.  Al- 
ready unmistakable  signs  of  the  new  order  were  mak- 
ing their  appearance  as  they  had  a  century  or  more 
earlier  in  Italy,  in  which  country  it  was  at  this  time 
definitely  established. 

The  last  half  of  the  fourteenth  century  contributed 
first  a  distinct  change  in  military  costumes.  Romance, 
picturesqueness,  and  luxurious  display  gave  place  to 
heaviness,  formality,  and  practicability.  One  writer 
has  this  to  say  of  general  conditions:  "The  city  of  Paris 
at  this  period  was  inferior  in  extent  to  many  of  the  capi- 
tals of  Europe.  Only  a  few  of  the  streets  were  paved. 
All  were  so  narrow  that  not  more  than  three  could  ride 
abreast  in  any  of  them,  and  every  by-street  was  filled 
with  ordure  and  filth  which  was  never  removed  except 
when  rain  swept  them  into  the  Seine.  The  houses  for 
the  most  part  were  mean  wooden  houses,  but  here  and 
there  towered  amongst  them  some  princely  castle, 
magnificent  abbey,  or  highly  decorated  church.  The 
streets  were  filled  with  beggars  of  every  class  and  con- 
dition." Petrarch,  in  writing  of  the  fourteenth-century 
customs  and  manners  of  the  French,  says  of  their 
military  life:  "When  you  enter  their  company  you 
might  fancy  yourself  in  a  tavern.  The  soldiers  are  eat- 
ing, drinking,  and  revelling  wholly  without  control. 
If  a  trumpet  sounds  the  men  obey  or  not  just  as  they 
please,  and  resemble  a  flight  of  bees  driven  from  the 
hive  more  than  a  disciplined  army.  They  fight,  not 
18 


EARLY  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  THE  QUIET  BUT  DIGNI- 
FIED ASSURANCE  OF  THESE  EARLY  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY  PER- 
SONAGES, WITH  THE  SIMPLE,  RHYTHMIC  CHARM  OF  THEIR  COSTUME 
DRAPERIES,  VERY  NEARLY  APPROACHES  THE  SPIRITUAL  QUALITY, 
THROUGH  AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  AESTHETIC  SENSE. 


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MEDIEVAL  EUROPE 

for  love  of  country,  but  for  vanity,  money,  or  caprice." 
These  quotations  from  contemporary  writers  give  a 
fairly  vivid  picture  of  the  decadence  of  spirit,  and  the 
lack  of  organization  and  concerted  action  in  the  first 
decades  of  the  decline  of  mediaeval  idealism. 

The  military  costumes  of  this  period  were  noble. 
A  crested  helmet  was  generally  worn  but  in  actual  war- 
fare the  visored  basinet  was  used.  A  magnificent 
short  close  coat  called  a  jupon,  decorated  with  the  arms 
of  the  wearer,  and  a  gorgeous  military  belt  formed 
the  distinguishing  garb  of  the  period.  By  1370  plated 
armour  was  general  throughout  the  army,  being 
adopted  because  it  was  of  lighter  weight  than  the 
chain  mail  armour  of  the  preceding  century.  Various 
plate  armours  were  designed  for  the  limbs,  feet,  and 
arms.  Leather  gauntlets  were  worn  the  backs  of  which 
were  covered  by  overlapping  plates. 

The  horse  was  armour  covered,  nothing  being  visible 
but  his  eyes  and  feet,  and  this  armour  plate  was  cov- 
ered with  a  housing  of  horse  cloth  gorgeously  orna- 
mented with  embroidery  and  sometimes  precious  stones. 
Of  the  following  reign,  that  o£jaiaj^e£VJ1364  to  1380), 
Brewer  writes:  "We  can  glean  from  contempcfl 
torians  and  poets  a  pretty  faithful  picture  of  the  man- 
ners and  habits  of  the  times.  The  king  rose  at  six, 
attended  matins  at  seven,  dined  at  eleven,  attended  ves- 
pers at  three,  and  retired  to  bed  at  sunset;  and  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  these  habits  were  in  accord 
with  the  general  habits  of  the  day. 

"After  matins  the  king  gave  advice.  After  dinner 
received  his  ministers,  and  after  vespers  devoted  him- 
self to  his  family.  He  dined  off  one  single  dish,  though 

19 


YCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

the  well-to-do  had  three  dishes  for  dinner.  He  dressed 
with  very  great  simplicity  in  a  long,  dark-coloured  cloak 
turned  up  with  black  velvet  and  confined  around  the 
waist  by  a  rope  girdle.  Contrary  to  the  customs  of  the 
times  he  wore  neither  sword,  dagger,  nor  other  distinc- 
tive marks  of  nobility.  His  only  decoration  was  a  small 
gold  circlet  of  fleurs  de  lis  around  his  black  velvet 
cap." 

From  the  "Romance  of  the  Rose"  we  gather  much 
about  general  conditions  and  customs.  In  this  poem 
the  poet  rebukes  women  for  their  arrogance  and  tells 
them  that  they  should  learn  to  return  a  salute  even 
from  subordinates.  He  says:  "They  should  not  scam- 
per about  the  streets  nor  turn  around  and  stare." 
He  advises  against  peeping  into  private  windows  and 
says  that  ladies  of  rank  should  walk  orderly  and  se- 
dately, particularly  in  going  to  church. 

He  rebukes  them  especially  for  giggling  and  joking 
at  mass  and  adds  that  such  of  them  as  can  read  should 
read  their  prayers  and  those  who  cared  to  should  learn 
them  by  heart.  He  adjures  them:  "To  keep  their  nails 
clean,  not  talk  loud  at  dinner  or  indulge  in  horse  laugh, 
and  not  to  grease  their  fingers  at  meals."  He  further 
tells  them  to  wipe  their  lips  on  the  tablecloth  but  not 
their  noses,  even  if  it  is  the  custom.  He  says:  "Never 
steal  nor  tell  wilful  falsehoods."  Men  come  in  for 
their  share  of  advice  also.  The  poet  speaks  against  big 
boots  terminating  in  a  point  like  a  bird's  bill  and  pro- 
truding in  the  back  like  a  claw.  He  reminds  them 
that  a  man  is  not  a  bird  and  asks  why  he  should  attempt 
to  resemble  one. 

Some  phases  of  costume  seem  to  have  changed  for 
20 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

the  better.  In  the  preceding  quarter  of  the  century 
gentlefolk  had  worn  long  robes  with  hoods  hanging 
down  their  backs,  but  in  this  time  both  hood  and  robe 
were  discarded,  and  men  (particularly  younger  ones) 
wore  short  jackets  perfectly  fitting  the  figure;  though, 
then  as  now,  fashion  changed  from  reign  to  reign  and 
sometimes  from  season  to  season. 

Strange  and  grotesque  fashions  are  quite  likely  to 
accompany  or  follow  the  perils  and  ravages  of  war. 
While  severity  and  practicality  dominate  military 
changes,  fantasy  and  grotesqueness  generally  influence 
social  costumes.  This  period  was  no  exception.  Still 
further  light  is  given  us  by  one  historian  who,  chron- 
icling the  reign  of  Charles  VII  (1422  to  1461)  in  his  de- 
scription of  the  costumes  of  women,  says:  "By  far  the 
most  remarkable  part  of  ladies'  dress  in  this  reign  was 
their  head  gear  which  consisted  of  two  horns  like  those 
of  an  ox,  sometimes  spread  out  for  two  feet  or  more 
on  both  sides  of  the  head,  sometimes  towering  up  above 
it,  and  sometinjes  branching  out  obliquely  but  in  all 
cases  supporting  a  veil  or  curtain.  Other  ladies  wore 
monster  mitre  hats,  others  sugar-loaf  hoods  with  clus- 
ters of  hair  high  over  against  the  head  dress  shaped 
like  a  heart,  and  some  few  large  Turkish  turbans  with 
the  folds  puffed  out."  The  church  raved  bitterly 
against  these  things  and  a  popular  preacher  employed 
boys  to  chase  the  women  in  the  streets,  tearing  off  their 
horns  and  braying  like  an  ass.  The  same  authority 
says  of  men:  "The  sleeves  were  slashed  at  the  shoulder 
and  when  a  gentleman  took  a  walk  he  tied  his  sleeves 
in  a  knot  that  he  might  not  stumble  over  them.  The 
hair  was  worn  long.  The  hat  was  of  cloth,  very  fantas- 

21 


i 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

tic  in  shape,  and  decorated  in  front  with  a  feather. 
The  shoes  were  peaked  extending  six  inches  in  front  of 
the  foot  for  common  men,  one  foot  for  gentlemen,  and 
two  feet  for  noblemen.  Trousers  fitted  tight  and 
every  gentleman  wore  a  huge  gold  chain  about  his  neck." 

Louis  XI  came  to  the  throne  in  1461  and  died  in 
1483.  This  reign  marked  the  culmination  of  the  medi- 
aeval ideal  in  France.  The  feudalism  of  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centuries,  the  reign  of  chivalry  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  and  the  decline  of 
the  spirit  of  mediae valism  in  the  fourteenth,  was  fol- 
owed  by  the  gradual  decay  and •  death  of  the  ideal,  as 
mediaeval  intelligence  became  effete,  and  its  ideals  were 
gradually  superseded  by  the  ideas  and  conceptions  that 
had  already  become  established  facts  in  Italy. 

Feudalism  and  its  practices  in  Italy  had  a  distinctive 
local  flavour,  for  in  the  sense  of  a  modern  state, 
mediaeval  Italy  did  not  exist.  In  the  twelfth  century  it 
consisted  of  small  towns  entirely  separate  in  their  govern- 
ment and  quite  unlike  in  their  domestic  and  social  life. 
In  the  north  there  was  a  constant  warfare  between  in- 
dividual barons,  between  the  towns  themselves,  and 
between  the  empire  and  the  church,  not  to  mention 
invasions  from  the  north  and  the  invasion  of  the 
Saracens.  This  disturbed  condition  made  anything 
like  a  crystallized  social  order  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries  impossible. 

Mediaeval  social  life  in  Italy  may  be  described  as 
definitely  set  to  religion.  This  was  the  land  of  the 
Popes,  of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Dominic,  of  Dante  and  of 
Savonarola;  of  the  struggle  of  monasticism  to  depose 
the  old  Roman  order,  while  it  was  subject  to  constant 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

filtering  influences  from  the  East.  Here  also  took  place 
the  greatest  struggles  between  the  early  developed 
monastic  ideals  of  social  life  and  the  incipient  conception 
of  temporal  political  and  social  domination,  at  the 
same  time  that  the  gradually  awakening  consciousness 
of  a  classic  origin  led  to  the  embrace  of  ideals  and 
practices  of  the  ancients,  giving  birth  to  the  new  order 
known  as  the  Renaissance.  All  this  made  Italy  of 
particular  interest  and  gave  to  its  art  a  variety  and  a 
local  colour  quite  individual. 

The  struggle  between  the  established  order  of 
religious  monastic  domination  and  the  new  temporal 
political  and  social  attitude  came  to  the  front  with  the 
appearance  of  Federico  Barbarossa  in  1152.  He  was 
the  exponent  of  the  new  conception  of  chivalry  as  it 
was  then  visioned  in  Italy.  By  1167,  with  the  founding 
of  the  "Lombard  League,"  a  more  stable  basis  for 
society  was  established  and  through  Henry  VI  (1190 
to  1197)  the  power  of  the  empire  was  shifted  from 
Germany  to  Italy.  With  the  Pope  definitely  assigned 
to  spiritual  domination  only,  the  foundation  for  a  more 
united  Italy  seemed  about  to  be  laid.  Henry  died  in 
1197,  however,  and  the  great  Innocent  III  ascended  the 
papal  throne  in  1198.  His  legacy  to  Italy  was  its 
partition  between  the  Church  and  the  Empire.  Thus 
the  scene  was  set  by  him  for  the  wonderful  development 
of  social  Italy  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

As  in  France  so  in  Italy,  the  first  and  prime  considera- 
tion of  life  was  self  preservation,  consequently  the 
design  of  the  house  and  clothes  had  reference  before 
everything  to  this  requirement.  A  second  and  very 
important  factor  was  the  selection  of  only  such  person- 

23 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

all  things  as  could  be  easily  cared  for  and  easily 
moved  in  case  of  flight  for  safety.  The  increasing  use  of 
colour,  fine  stuffs,  and  other  material  in  church  ritual, 
with  the  quickened  imagination  of  the  eleventh  century 
and  the  tendency  toward  a  more  stabilized  condition 
in  the  twelfth  century,  each  contributed  its  part  toward 
determining  the  kind  and  quality  of  materials  used  in 
the  social  We  expression. 

ssentially  committed  to  a  religious  scenario  a  very 
decided  ecclesiastic  influence  was  naturally  exerted 
over  the  style  of  costumes,  the  materials  out  of  which 
they  were  made,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
worn.  The  nearness  of  Italy  to  the  Orient,  intimate 
relations  with  the  Byzantine  Church,  and  the  natural 
love  of  the  Latin  for  pageant  display,  also  contributed 
something  to  the  choice  and  use  which  distinguished 
mediaeval  costume  in  Italy. 

That  a  conscious  connection  may  exist  in  our  minds 
between  this  particular  religious  monastic  social  ideal 
with  its  many  influencing  ramifications,  and  the  social 
art  which  resulted,  and  that  we  may  feel  keenly  the 
closeness  of  relation  between  the  house,  clothes  and  the 
ideals  of  We  prevalent  at  the  time,  let  us  examine  the 
documents  relating  to  these  matters  as  they  appeared  in 
the  thirteenth  century. 

Sedgwick,  in  his  "Italyjn  the  Thirteenth  Century," 
says:  "The  great  square  was  the  centre  of  town  life. 
Upon  it  fronted  the  cathedral,  the  bishop's  palace,  the 
baptistery,  the  town  hall  perhaps,  and  the  houses  of 
eminent  families.  The  square  itself  was  the  real  home 
of  people  whom  blue  skies  urged  out  of  doors;  it  was 
the  unroofed  family  room  for  the  whole  city.  There 
24 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

tournaments  were  held,  candidates  for  knighthood 
exercised  their  hospitalites,  singers,  ballad-mongers, 
mountebanks  exhibited  their  accomplishments,  friars 
preached,  pedlars  cried  their  wares,  heralds  trumpeted 
and  shouted  their  proclamations,  hucksters  chaffered, 
young  men  and  boys  played  their  games,  trainbands 
drilled,  the  general  council  of  citizens  assembled, 
children  romped  and  made  mud  pies;  altogether, 
knights  in  armour,  prelates  in  vestments,  public 
messengers  in  red  jackets,  heralds  on  horseback,  friars  in 
corded  smocks,  merchants  in  robes,  shopkeepers  in 
leathern  jackets,  artisans  in  jerkin  and  hose,  rich 
women  clad  in  scarlet  cloth,  poor  women  in  green, 
young  women  with  fillets  round  their  heads,  mothers 
with  swaddled  babies  on  their  backs,  horses,  mules, 
asses,  cows,  goats,  chickens,  dogs,  cats,  and  pigs,  with 
bells  clanging  and  all  the  population  talking  at  once, 
must  have  been  a  very  gay  and  jolly  scene. 

"The  piazza  was  also  a  great  public  school.  There 
the  people  met  every  day,  bargained,  haggled,  disputed, 
discussed,  listened  to  monks,  pilgrims,  or  troubadours 
from  afar,  heard  the  news  of  the  Pope,  of  the  Emperor, 
of  Ezzelino  da  Romano,  of  Bro.  Elias,  and  argued  on 
this  side  or  on  that.  It  was  the  debating  forum,  the 
assembly  room,  the  outdoor  club,  for  all  the  citizens. 
There  they  rubbed  off  the  rudeness  of  earlier  times,  and 
acquired  a  quickness  of  wit,  a  readiness  of  speech,  and 
an  ingenuity  that  distinguished  them  broadly  from  the 
country  folk.  The  piazza  ranks  with  the  guilds  as  a 
factor  in  the  development  of  Italian  civilization." 

In  speaking  particularly  of  clothes  in  the  same 
century  he  says:  "Fashionable  women  wore  fine  linen, 

25 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

silks,  and  brocades,  trinkets  of  silver  and  gold,  jewellery 
of  all  sorts,  trimmings  and  gewgaws.  Their  gowns  were 
cut  low  in  the  neck,  to  the  scandal  of  the  austere;  they 
wore  false  hair  and  painted  and  powdered  to  a  most 
reprehensible  degree;  they  laced  and  they  fasted  in 
order  to  make  their  figures  fashionably  slim." 

The  Church  discountenanced  this  extravagance  and 
did  what  she  could  to  stop  it.  Pope  Gregory  X.,  for  in- 
stance, bade  women  give  up  pearls,  ornaments  of  feath- 
ers, and  gold  and  silver  fringe,  during  Lent.  Cardinal 
Latino,  sent  by  Nicholas  III  as  legate  to  Lombardy  and 
Romagna,  went  still  further.  Brother  Salimbene  gives 
an  account  of  his  attempts  at  reform:  "He  disturbed 
all  the  women  by  a  set  of  regulations  that  women  should 
wear  dresses  only  to  the  ground  or  barely  a  hands- 
breadth  longer.  And  the  legate  had  these  regulations 
proclaimed  in  the  churches  and  bade  the  women  obey, 
under  injunction  that,  unless  they  did,  no  priest  should 
absolve  them;  and  this  was  bitterer  to  the  women  than 
any  death.  One  woman  said  familiarly  to  me,  'that  her 
train  was  dearer  to  her  than  any  other  garment  she  had 
on.'  And,  besides,  Cardinal  Latino  in  the  same  regula- 
tions bade  all  women — girls,  young  ladies,  married 
women,  widows,  matrons, — wear  veils  of  jineji  and  silk, 
shot  with  a  gold  thread,  in  which  they  appeared  ten 
times  better-looking,  and  drew  the  eyes  of  those  that 
saw  them  still  more  towards  wanton  thoughts." 

Concerning  the  growth  of  extravagance  he  says: 
"With  the  increase  of  wealth,  comforts  and  luxuries 
increased,  and  instead  of  ministering  only  to  the 
pleasure  of  a  few  nobles,  spread  to  the  upper  mercantile 
class.  It  is  hard  to  tell  how  great  this  increase  was. 
26 


O   E4 
£  B 


»  B  B 


EARLY  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  MEDIAEVAL  CHIVALRY 
IN  SOCIAL  LIFE  IS  HERE  INTERPRETED  THROUGH  GOTHIC  MIND, 
RESULTING  IN  A  QUAINT  DECORATIVE  ENSEMBLE  WITH  ROMANTIC 
PERSONS  AND  NAIVE  COSTUMES,  SHOWING  FASHION'S  EARLY  POWER 


MEDLEVAL  EUROPE 

Dante,  Villani,  Riccobaldi  of  Ferrara,  and  Bro.  Francis 
Pipin  have  left  pictures  of  what  they  believed  to  be  the 
simple,  plain,  sober,  and  virtuous  mode  of  life  of  earlier 
generations."  This  may  perhaps  be  taken  with  a  grain 
of  salt  since  one  is  likely  in  retrospection  of  this  kind  to 
find  contrasts  with  his  own  times  favourable  to  the 
idea  which  he  desires  to  maintain. 

Perhaps  a  fairly  good  idea  of  the  social  setting  of  the 
castle  home  in  the  thirteenth  century  may  be  obtained 
from  Boulting's  description  in  his  book  called  "Woman 
in  Italy."  "What  kind  of  a  home  would  the  young 
bride  be  taken  to?  "  he  asks.  "  In  the  thirteenth  century 
a  maiden  of  rank  would  ride  to  some  grim  fortress, 
perched  like  an  aerie  high  up  on  a  mountain-spur.  She 
would  be  admitted  through  a  massive  gateway,  cross  a 
courtyard  with  a  well  at  its  centre,  and  enter  a  great  low 
hall,  furnished  with  a  huge  table  and  benches  covered 
with  coarse  cloth;  if  it  were  winter  enormous  logs  would 
be  a-blazing  in  the  open  fireplace;  if  night,  torches  would 
flame  in  their  cressets  and  fill  the  room  with  smoke;  the 
table  might,  if  the  castle  belonged  to  a  wealthy  noble, 
be  set  with  a  few  silver-gilt  utensils  holding  painted 
candles,  and  there  might  be  a  few  beakers  of  precious 
metal.  Narrow,  deep-set  windows  would  be  closed 
with  oiled  linen  to  keep  out  rain  and  draught,  and  by 
day  a  doubtful  light  would  strive  to  penetrate  the 
room.  Around,  storied  arras  would  tell  of  Arthur  and 
his  round-table  or  of  the  great  fight  at  Roncesvalles,  or 
there  might  be  strange  tapestries  brought  from  Egypt. 
Baked  meats  would  be  pushed  through  holes  in  the 
wall  from  the  adjoining  kitchen  at  meal  times." 

As  early  as  1250  we  find  a  Genoese  artist  employed  in 

27 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

that  city  to  paint  the  walls  of  a  room  with  red  roses  on  a 
white  ground  and  white  roses  on  a  red  ground — a 
mode  of  adornment  probably  copied  from  those  mural 
paintings  of  Roman  villas  which  still  remain  so  fresh. 
The  instinct  for  flowered  wall  coverings  seems  to  have 
made  its  appearance  early;  " Art,"  however,  only  began 
to  be  generally  employed  in  the  decoration  of  the  home 
in  the  fifteenth  century  and,  for  long,  masterpieces  were 
only  to  be  found  in  churches  and  public  buildings.  Bare 
spaces  on  the  walls  were  sometimes  covered  with  neatly 
written  quotations  and  mottoes,  the  hall,  however,  was 
by  that  time  adorned  with  arabesques  or  frescoes.  By 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  castle  would  have 
been  modernized  or  rebuilt;  part  of  the  year  was  always 
spent  in  the  city,  and  the  country  castle  was  only  used 
in  "villegiatura,"  except  in  Piedmont,  where  the  nobility 
despised  town-life.  Feudal  days  were  over  and  re- 
tainers no  longer  lodged  hi  the  castle  which  was,  there- 
fore, of  very  modest  dimensions.  The  rude  furniture 
of  former  tunes  had  given  way  to  things  of  great  ele- 
gance but  not  a  whit  more  comfortable. 

We  read  that  in  1285  a  certain  fine  house  at  Bologna 
contained  for  furniture,  "one  coffer,  one  walnut  wood 
copper  pot,  a  wine  press,  a  vessel  for  wine,  a  quilt,  a 
bolster,  two  sheets  and  an  alcove  bed."  In  1297  an 
inventory  of  the  entire  possessions  of  a  man  named 
Gabo  was  given  to  a  Sienese  court.  There  are  enu- 
merated a  barrel,  a  frying  pan,  three  wine  sacks,  an 
iron  tripod,  a  deep  cooking  pot,  three  bowls,  a  dish, 
two  measures,  two  baskets,  a  pan  for  carrying  bread, 
four  knives,  three  daggers,  a  staff,  a  bow  and  arrows, 
a  chequer  board,  two  chests  for  papers,  nine  mattresses, 
28 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

eight  sets  of  books,  a  shaker  iron,  two  linen  cloths,  two 
fancy  quilts,  two  straw  beds,  with  tripods,  seven 
straw  beds,  six  trays  of  tripods,  three  bolsters,  one  pair 
of  linen  sheets."  A  strange  medley  of  furniture  and 
furnishings  for  the  house  of  a  gentleman,  certainly.  The 
rapid  increase  of  wealth,  however,  in  the  early  four- 
teenth century  was  accompanied  by  a  somewhat  rising 
standard  of  comfort  and  luxury,  particularly  when 
feuds  became  less  frequent,  society  more  stabilized, 
and  the  danger  of  losing  one's  possessions  by  exile, 
theft,  or  arson  diminished.  Giovanni  de'  Mucci  writing 
in  1388  says  that  in  1320  a  cooking  fire  was  made  in  the 
room  and  everybody  stood  around  it  for  warmth  in 
winter,  and  in  1368  the  same  practice  obtained  in  Rome. 
Haywood  tells  us  these  fireplaces  did  not  come  into 
general  use  for  a  long  time. 

The  same  attention  to  good  manners  seems  to  have 
been  paid  by  the  clergy  of  Italy  as  by  those  of  France, 
in  the  fourteenth  century.  Fra  Bonvicino  in  1290  urges 
the  wiping  of  the  mouth  with  the  table  cloth  after 
drinking,  and  suggests  that  "those  who  would  be 
deemed  well  bred  should  not  make  a  noise  when  they 
use  a  spoon  in  company,  nor  blow  the  nose  without  us- 
ing a  cloth,  or  lick  nor  blow  on  the  fingers,  nor  re- 
mark on  the  cooking  of  the  food.  Also  they  will  wash 
the  hands  a  little  after  each  meal  to  take  off  the  grease. 
Table  napkins  came  into  use  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
Boulting  further  tells  us  that:  "In  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries  the  habits  of  a  citizen's  household 
were  very  simple,  and  his  wife  usually  dispensed  with 
the  luxury  of  a  servantr  Agnello  of  Pisa,  who  could 
afford  to  pay  30,000  florins  for  troops  to  capture  the 

29 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

city  for  him,  kept  one  young  servant-girl  only.  Ser 
Lapo  Mazzei,  the  notary,  had  none,  and  his  wife  had  to 
mend  her  boy's  hose,  even  when  she  was  not  well.  In 
1378  we  find  wealthy  Francesco  Rinuccini  of  Florence 
and  his  family  of  six  sons,  one  daughter,  three  daughters- 
in-law  and  four  grandsons — four  families,  therefore — 
dwelling  under  one  roof,  served  by  two  maids,  a  wet 
nurse  and  a  waiting  maid,  and  a  gardener,  who  lived  out 
of  the  house  with  his  wife  and  son;  there  were  eight 
horses  to  attend  to  also." 

It  seems  the  farms  and  processes  of  civilization  were 
much  the  same  in  France  as  in  Italy,  but  France  was 
fully  a  century  behind  Italy  in  development  and  each 
had  its  own  well  defined  national,  or  rather  individual, 
characteristics,  giving  flavour  and  sometimes  amuse- 
ment to  the  process  and  the  results. 

Odom  in  his  "History  of  Italian  Furniture"  quotes  an 
authority  writing  in  the  time  of  Dante  who  states 
that:  "In  the  last  half  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
manners  of  the  Italians  were  rude.  A  man  and  his 
wife  ate  off  the  same  plate.  The  clothes  of  men  were  of 
leather.  Scarcely  any  gold  or  silver  was  seen  on  their 
dress.  The  portions  of  women  were  small,  and  their 
dress  evei^after  marriage  was  simple."  And  then  he 
continues:]  "In  the  early  fourteenth  century  frugality 
has  been  changed  to  sumptuousness.  Everything  ex- 
quisite is  sought  after  in  dress,  gold,  silver,  pearls,  silks, 
and  rich  furs."  This  description  is  confirmed  by 
Hallam  and  by  other  testimony  of  nearly  the  same 
date. 

The  conquest  of  Naples  by  Charles  of  Anjou  in  1266 
seems  to  have  marked  the  beginning  of  a  period  of  in- 
30 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

creasing  luxury  throughout  Italy.  First,  provengal 
knights  with  their  plumes,  helmets,  and  golden  collars; 
their  chariots,  the  furnishings  of  which  were  covered 
with  blue  velvet  and  sprinkled  with  lilies  of  gold,  aston- 
ished the  citizens  of  Naples.  Provence  had  enjoyed  a 
long  tranquillity,  the  natural  source  of  luxurious  mag- 
nificence, and  Italy,  now  liberated  from  the  yoke  of  her 
enemies,  soon  reaped  the  harvest  of  a  condition  easier 
and  more  peaceful  than  had  been  her  lot  for  several 
centuries. 

xtravagance  became  so  universal  and  the  railings  of 
the  church  against  inordinate  display  so  vociferous,  that 
certain  statutes,  called  Sumptuary  Laws,  were  passed  to 
curb  the  ostentatious  display  of  the  newly  richT^These 
laws,  partly  clerical  and  partly  secular,  unitedTto  make 
all  comfort  as  well  as  luxury  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  France  and  England  during  the  fourteenth 
century  extended  these  laws  to  the  table  as  well  as  to 
apparel.  Hallam  writes  that  sumptuary  laws  in  France 
were  as  old  as  Charlemagne  and  that  "these  attempts 
to  restrain  what  cannot  be  restrained  continued  even 
down  to  1700."  We  might  add  they  have  continued 
ever  since  in  one  form  or  another,  under  the  name  of 
radical  propaganda,  welfare  work,  social  uplift,  and  the 
like,  each  and  all  of  which  seem  to  be  about  as  success- 
ful in  regulating  human  emotional  display  as  were  their 
forerunners,  the  Sumptuary  Laws,  early  in  the  four- 
teenth century. 

Mediaeval  France  was  the  cradle  of  civilization  as  it 
was  expressed  in  terms  of  the  polite  amenities  of  life. 
Here  it  was  that  the  social  system  of  Chivalry  flourished 
in  its  finest  form,  and  bred  the  courteous  manners  and 

31 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

attention  to  details  of  etiquette  which  became  a  part  of 
French  consciousness  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries,  and  which,  despite  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
centuries  following,  never  lost  their  place  in  what  we 
know  as  the  French  mind  expressed  in  social  life.  How 
civilized  nations  have  since  sought  to  imitate  the 
French  social  ideals  needs  simply  to  be  recalled. 
[i^^Sppearance  was  the  important  thing,  involving  ro- 
mance and  even  luxury  as  they  appealed  to  the  senses, 
comfort  being  secondary.  It  was  not  until  the 
eighteenth  century  that  there  seemed  to  be  an  awakening 
to  the  possibilites  of  the  house  as  a  place  to  live  in,  and 
even  then  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  point  of  view  it  lacked 
much  in  this  regard. 

Mediaeval  Italy,  too,  true  to  its  Roman  traditions, 
particularly  in  the  central  part  and  the  south,  conceived 
the  house  first  as  a  fortress,  then  a  monument,  and 
later  as  a  ponderous  setting  for  the  spectacular  per- 
formance of  the  necessary  duties  attendant  upon  semi- 
public  life,  rather  than  as  a  comfortable,  useful, 
domestic  environment,  in  which  to  develop  the  home 
life  ideal. 

This  ideal  was  England's  contribution  to  civilization 
and  it  was  the  function  of  the  English  mediaeval  mind  to 
organize  it  and  establish  an  order  that  is  yet  operative 
and  that  still  constitutes,  the  backbone  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  social  order  as  we  know  it. 

This  must  not  be  understood  as  minimizing  in  the 
slightest  degree  the  home  ideals  of  either  France  or 
Italy,  but  rather  as  pointing  out  how  they  differ  from 
those  of  England,  and  how  this  difference  affected  the 
development  of  the  house  as  a  stage  for  the  play  of 
32 


MEDIEVAL  EUROPE 

social  life,  and  in  turn  reacted  on  the  costumes  of  the 
time,  necessary  for  staging  the  play  successfully. 

In  contrasting  the  point  of  view  in  France  from  that 
of  England  in  the  twelfth  century  it  is  interesting  to 
study  the  conditions  of  the  institution  of  Chivalry  in  the 
reign  of  Stephen  about  the  middle  of  the  century. 
Turner  in  his  history  of  England  in  the  Middle  Ages 
quotes  John  of  Salisbury  on  the  qualifications  and 
training  of  a  knight  in  Chivalry,  as  follows:  "They 
must  learn  from  the  beginning  to  labour  alone,  carry 
weights,  and  bear  the  sun  and  dust;  to  use  sparing  and 
rustic  food,  and  live  in  the  open  air,  and  sometimes  in 
tents,  and  thus  to  practice  to  use  of  arms."  A  different 
picture  surely  from  that  of  the  training  for  knighthood 
in  France;  and  he  helps  us  to  see  why  England  was 
slow  to  accept  the  gentle  arts  of  politeness  and  courtesy, 
and  why  the  costumes  of  the  English  people  were,  like 
their  manners,  made  of  sterner  stuff  in  a  more  practical 
style  and  less  charming  in  detail.  Where  these  gentle 
arts  appeared  in  social  life  they  were  modified  greatly 
by  the  changed  attitude  of  the  people  toward  religion, 
politics,  and  the  social  system. 

Perhaps  it  is  only  fair  at  this  point  to  quote  what 
one  writer  has  said  in  regard  to  the  tendency  toward 
effeminacy  in  knighthood  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II, 
at  which  time  he  says  this  order  was  beginning  to 
degenerate.  In  his  criticism  he  says:  "The  true  merit 
of  a  knight  is  to  fight  well,  to  conduct  a  troop  well,  to  do 
his  excercise  well,  to  be  well  armed,  to  ride  his  horse 
well,  to  present  himself  with  good  grace  at  court,  and  to 
render  himself  agreeable,"  and  he  adds,  "Seldom  are 
all  these  qualities  united."  This  seems  quite  in  keeping 

33 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

when  we  consider  that  the  courteous  elegancies  of 
social  life  at  court  would  not  be  compatible  with  a 
people  in  a  half  civilized  state  leading  a  strict  and  vigor- 
ous life.  In  contrasting  this  standard  of  true  merit 
with  the  state  of  things  after  this  effeminate  tendency 
became  manifest,  he  writes:  "Some  say  that  military 
glory  consists  in  this,  that  they  shine  in  elegant  dress, 
that  they  make  their  clothes  tight  to  their  bodies,  and  so 
bind  on  their  linen  or  silken  garments  as  to  seem  a  skin 
colour  like  their  flesh.  If  they  are  sitting  softly  on  their 
ambling  horses  they  think  themselves  so  many  Apollos, 
but  if  you  make  an  army  of  them  you  will  have  a  com- 
pany of  Thais  not  of  Hannibal.  Each  is  politest  in  the 
banquet  hall  but  in  the  battle  everyone  desires  to  be  the 
last.  When  they  return  home  without  a  scar  they  sing 
triumphantly  of  their  battles  and  boast  of  the  thousand 
deaths  that  were  in  their  temples  face.  They  have  the 
first  place  at  supper,  they  feast  every  day  splendidly 
but  shun  exercises  like  a  dog." 

The  Norman  Conquest  found  England,  in  1066,  a  land 
of  rugged,  unprepared,  domestic,  half-civilized  people 
committed  to  the  soil,  satisfied  in  their  prospects  of 
life  and  happiness,  but  undeveloped,  as  a  natural  result 
of  their  isolation. 

They  were  a  gentle,  simple  people,  essentially  do- 
mestic in  their  ideals  and  particularly  devoted  to 
isolated  family  life.  In  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  the  homes  of  the  masses  were  generally  built  of 
wood,  in  a  crude  style.  The  manor  house  was  little 
better,  but  these  and  nobler  dwellings  were  entirely 
unfortified,  and  so  bespoke  respect  for  a  man's  right  to 
life  and  goods,  not  found  elsewhere.  The  essential  ele- 
34 


EARLY  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  MEDIAE- 
VAL SPIRITUAL  SYMBOLISM  EXPRESSED  THROUGH 
MOTHER  AND  CHILI).  COSTUMES  CONCEIVED  IN  THE 
SAME  CONSCIOUS  SPIRIT,  WITH  NATIVE  FEELING  FOR 
DECORATIVE  DESIGN  ALSO  OI'KK  ATI  VE. 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

ment  is  the  Anglo-Saxon  attitude  to  his  domestic  life, 
and  the  rights  of  his  neighbour  to  enjoy  the  same. 

The  story  of  the  change  wrought  in  a  century  need 
not  be  recounted,  but  the  effect  of  the  new  ideals  was 
manifest  in  the  cold,  dismal,  forbidding  stone  castle 
which  became  the  home  of  the  newly  established 
barons;  in  the  gradual  separation  of  the  classes  as  their 
life  in  the  castle,  in  the  manor  house,  in  the  cottage,  or 
in  the  hut  became  established  facts  and  determined  the 
character  of  the  material  in  which  the  life  of  mediaeval 
England  was  to  be  set,  dictating  largely  what  the  cos- 
tumes should  be  in  this  new  social  experience. 

Sparrow,  in  his  new  book,  "The  English  House," 
writes:  "Of  course  an  Anglo-Saxon  *  house-place'  had 
its  own  shortcomings;  it  looked  unkempt  like  peasant 
cottages  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century,  but  it  was  a 
home  in  which  yeomen  and  peasants  evolved  their  own 
ideals,  and  from  which  they  would  not  budge.  Even 
in  towns,  where  efforts  were  made  to  restrain  them, 
people  kept  resolutely  to  the  slow  development  of  old 
wooden  sheds  and  halls;  and  it  is  also  worth  noting  that 
timberwork  of  the  twelfth  century  appears  to  have  been 
in  essentials  what  it  was  a  hundred  years  later,  during 
the  long  reign  of  Henry  III. 

"A  yeoman's  sleeping-room  under  the  thatched  roof 
was  entered  by  a  ladder,  or  rude  staircase,  as  a  rule  in- 
side the  hall;  but  sometimes  it  may  have  been  put  out- 
side, and  protected  from  the  wet  by  a  timber  awning. 
The  furniture  was  very  simple — a  few  benches  and  a 
chest  or  two,  some  wooden  platters,  and  a  tripod  for 
cooking  purposes.  The  walls  seem  to  have  been 
coloured  with  archil  and  whitewash,  and  along  them  on 

35 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

wooden  pegs  some  farm  implements  dangled.  The  floor 
was  littered  with  dirty  grass  and  rushes,  a  bacon-rack 
swung  from  the  roof -beams,  a  fire  crackled  on  a  hob  of 
clay  at  some  distance  from  the  fragile  walls,  and  wood  and 
peat  smoke  disinfected  an  atmosphere  which  was  ever 
tain  ted,  and  drove  away  some  of  the  innumerable  vermin. 
Chimneys  were  unknown,  except  in  castles  and  in  manor- 
houses."  He  also  relates  that  clothing  was  usually 
home-made  and  not  thick  enough  to  keep  out  the  cold. 

In  studying  the  English  type  we  need  to  consider  how 
early  and  in  what  way,  as  compared  with  other 
European  countries,  the  people  began  to  recognize  the 
necessity  for  comfort  and  convenience. 

In  1189  a  set  of  building  rules,  known  as  the  "Assize" 
was  compiled,  a  remote  forerunner  of  the  building  laws 
of  our  day.  Among  other  things  it  provided  that  a  stone 
wall  of  a  certain  thickness  be  built  between  adjacent 
houses  on  the  city  street,  and  it  must  be  of  a  prescribed 
height;  the  drainage  on  either  side  was  also  regulated. 

In  1212  ordinances  were  passed  prescribing  the  kind 
of  roofs  houses  might  have,  and  with  what  they  should 
be  covered.  Wages  were  fixed  by  law  and  city  officials 
might  destroy  the  houses  of  those  who  failed  to  provide 
against  fire  or  neglected  the  sanitary  laws. 

Consider,  if  you  will,  this  view  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
mind  and  compare  it  with  what  seemed  to  be  the  es- 
sential character  of  the  French  or  Italian  ideals  of  the 
same  century.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  different  the  re- 
sults of  their  efforts  would  be,  expressed  in  terms  of  art. 

On  the  other  hand,  into  this  Anglo-Saxon  ideal  was 
poured  that  of  the  Norman  baron  of  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  whose  idea  of  a  house  was  a  de- 
36 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

fence  monument  built  to  his  strength  and  glory.  His 
ideal  differed  from  that  of  Italy  in  that  defence  was  his 
first  thought,  and  so  his  monument  meant  strength 
and  an  impregnable  retreat  built  to  awe  by  its  appear- 
ance, while  in  Italy  the  aesthetic  side  of  the  monument, 
even  in  the  thirteenth  century,  was  as  important,  and 
more  so,  than  the  defence  aspect;  for  the  Italian,  never 
losing  consciousness  of  his  Roman  heritage  aimed,  in 
building,  at  beauty  and  grandeur  as  well  as  utility. 

"A  Norman  castle  was  the  negation  of  comfort  and 
convenience,"  writes  Sparrow,  and  he  adds:  "There  is 
something  cowardly  and  ignoble  in  the  look  of  a  feudal 
castle,  something  that  invites  contempt,  because  the 
very  men  who  called  themselves  warriors,  and  who  from 
the  age  of  seven  were  taught  to  be  brave  as  soldiers, 
were  yet  so  afraid  to  be  killed  that  they  feared  to  let 
in  the  light  of  day  to  their  rooms,  lest  arrows  should 
enter  by  the  same  windows  as  the  necessary  sun.  Near 
the  ground  windows  were  forbidden,  and  those  high 
up  the  walls  were  little  better  than  the  slits  that  venti- 
lated barns  and  kept  hay  from  sweating  itself  into  a 
fever.  Indoors,  where  a  fitful  dusk  lasted  all  day  long 
from  dawn  to  sunset,  the  seneschal  lived  on  the  second 
and  third  stories,  always  distressed  by  bad  ventilation. 
Between  him  and  the  outside  air  was  a  wall  from  twelve 
to  fourteen  feet  in  thickness,  a  thing  most  wonderfully 
at  odds  with  any  danger  which  could  threaten  it  during 
a  time  of  siege."  Not  a  pleasant  picture  of  domestic 
comfort  or  happiness  surely,  and  in  no  way  akin  to  the 
idea  of  the  Saxon. 

The  rooms  were  so  few  in  number  and  the  conven- 
iences for  keeping  clothes  so  limited  that  luxury,  except 

37 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

as  it  related  to  military  display,  found  little  place  in 
thirteenth  century  costumes.  We  are  told  of  coarse, 
woollen  cloth  used  in  the  habits  of  the  middle  classes,  and 
even  the  barons  did  not  scorn  to  wear  it.  Heavy  velvets 
brought  from  the  East  and  a  heavy  silk  damask,  partic- 
ularly in  green  with  gold,  are  frequently  mentioned  in  de- 
scriptions of  the  great  ladies  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

In  considering  the  costumes  we  must  remember  the 
vigorous  climate  of  England  and  what  that  meant  in 
the  development  of  mediaeval  art.  It  was  not  until 
well  past  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  that 
fireplaces  with  chimneys  came  into  general  use,  even 
among  the  barons.  In  mediaeval  days  the  fire  was 
made  in  the  centre  of  the  great  hall.  By  it  the  family 
warmed  themselves,  upon  it  food  was  cooked;  and  al- 
though there  was  a  flue  in  the  roof  constructed  so  that 
the  smoke  might  escape,  much  of  it  was  forced  to  remain 
in  the  room,  which,  one  writer  assures  us,  "was  ruinous 
to  the  clothes  of  the  fair  sex  who  even  in  these  days 
desired  to  wear  clothes  made  of  fine  stuffs  like  velvet, 
which  was  not  compatible  with  the  conditions  pro- 
duced by  the  fire  smoke  and  vermin." 

No  less  insistent,  it  seems,  were  the  vanities,  among 
mediaeval  ladies,  however,  than  among  their  more  mod- 
ern sisters,  but  the  road  to  their  satisfaction  was  a  bit 
more  difficult  in  the  earlier  period.  The  clergy  led 
the  satirists  and  purists  in  an  onslaught  against  the  up- 
rising of  primitive  instincts,  against  this  "vanity  of 
soul,"  but  even  they  had  their  own  trials  among  their 
immediate  families,  for  we  find  St.  Bernard  thus  be- 
rating his  sister,  who  was  paying  him  a  friendly  visit, 
arrayed  in  "richest  clothing  with  pearls  and  precious 

38 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

stones."  "Suster,  yet  ye  love  youre  bodi  by  reson 
ye  shuid  beter  love  youre  soule :  wene  ye  not  that  ye  dis- 
please God  and  his  aungels  to  see  in  you  suche  pompe 
and  pride  to  adorn  suche  a  carion  as  is  youre  body. 
.  .  .  Whi  thenke  ye  not  that  the  pore  peple  that 
deyen  for  hungir  and  colde,  that  for  the  sixte  part  of 
youre  gay  arraye  XI  persones  might  be  clothed,  re- 
freshed, and  kepte  from  the  colde?" 

St.  Edith,  daughter  of  King  Edgar,  evidently  less 
meek  than  her  sisters,  when  upbraided  by  her  brother 
for  her  "sin  of  pride"  stingingly  replied:  "God's  doom, 
that  may  not  fail,  is  pleased  only  with  conscience. 
Therefore  I  trow  that  as  clean  a  soul  may  be  under 
those  clothes  that  are  arrayed  with  gold  as  under  thy 
slight  fur-skins." 

During  the  long  reign  of  Henry  III  (1217  to  1272) 
much  was  done  for  domestic  environment,  although 
progress  seems  to  have  been  stayed  by  his  death.  He 
consulted  with  Italian  architects,  thus  tending  to  ele- 
vate taste  in  architecture,  and  he  may  be  termed  the 
first  real  patron  of  art  in  England  as  it  related  to  such 
domestic  expression  as  the  house  and  costume.  In  the 
first  place  he  was  passionately  fond  of  colour  and 
through  his  example  brought  into  England's  cold  and 
cheerless  climate  a  healthy  and  more  exhilarating  at- 
mosphere. He  loved  polychrome  effects,  particularly 
gold  with  green,  and  gold  stars  on  purple.  The  Tower 
of  London  cast  a  gloom  upon  him  so  he  ordered  that 
the  walls  of  the  queen's  chamber  should  be  painted  with 
flowers.  This  clue  is  important  in  tracing  the  beginning 
of  frescoed  walls  in  England,  and  the  feminine  touch  in 
decoration  as  it  was  afterward  expressed  in  the  house. 

39 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

England  was  swarming  with  Italian  priests  who  were 
steeped  in  polychrome  and  who  sought  a  chance  to 
make  money  and  achieve  fame  by  distributing  colour 
decorations  which  soon  became  fashionable  and  readily 
found  their  way  into  the  permanent  household  posses- 
sions of  the  lords.  Panelled  rooms  came  into  vogue 
and  painted  friezes  were  a  part  of  the  decoration,  mostly 
religious  in  significance,  although  occasionally  showing 
traces  of  Greek  and  Roman  influence,  probably  intro- 
duced unconsciously  for  the  most  part. 

Amidst  all  this  we  remember,  however,  that  the  floors 
were  still  of  earth  or  stone,  that  "rushes  and  reeds  and 
green  fodder  covered  the  floors,  that  bones  and  other 
refuse  was  daily  mixed  with  the  rushes,  and  that  it 
was  not  till  the  fifteenth  century  that  carpets  of  any 
kind  became  well  known." 

Naturally  woollen  cloth  was  the  most  suitable  for 
general  use  in  mediaeval  England  and  she,  with  her 
ever-present  commercial  foresight,  showed  her  appre- 
ciation of  this  fact.  "The  thirteenth  century  writer," 
says  Hallam,  in  his  "State  of  Europe,"  "asserts  that 
all  the  world  was  clothed  from  English  wool  wrought 
in  Flanders."  One  historian  avers  that  mediaeval 
lords  and  ladies  put  little  money  on  their  floors,  but 
much  more  upon  their  backs,  and  then  goes  on  to  tell 
how  the  heavy  woollen  robes  gave  place  to  velvet  ones, 
the  sleeves  sometimes  lined  with  silk,  sometimes  with 
fur,  while  in  some  cases  they  were  embroidered  with 
jewels.  The  church  attacked  this  "vain  and  inglorious 
thing"  but  among  the  laymen  lavishness  was  said  to 
threaten  ruin  to  the  finances  of  those  whose  wives  were 
committing  these  extravagances. 
40 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

At  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  England  we 
find  that  the  knights,  clothed  always  in  heavy  armour 
during  the  day,  discarded  their  burden  at  night  and  put 
on  a  loose  robe  of  cloth  (generally  of  wool).  In  bad 
weather  or  when  it  was  very  cold  a  loose  coat  was  worn 
over  this,  which  reached  to  the  waist  and  was  made  with 
loose  sleeves  and  a  big  hood.  This  also  was  of  coarse 
cloth  as  a  rule  but  in  a  few  cases  "an  imported  stuff 
from  the  East"  was  seen.  Out  of  doors  they  wore  a 
soft  hat,  and  their  shoes  were  long  and  peaked. 

We  read  of  women  who  followed  this  ideal  of  com- 
fort— an  undergo wn,  very  long,  full  and  loose  at  the 
waist  had  sleeves  which  were  tight,  and  buttoned  from 
the  elbow  to  the  wrist.  The  upper,  or  outer  gown  was 
fastened  in  the  back,  fitting  the  figure  roughly,  and  the 
train  was  very  long.  Around  the  throat  was  worn  a 
white  linen  cloth  called  a  gorget,  which  was  pulled  up  at 
the  sides  and  attached  to  wads  of  hair  over  each  ear;  a 
protection  from  the  cold,  perhaps,  but  an  ugly  ar- 
rangement, not  in  line  with  the  comfort  we  read  that 
they  sought  in  their  fashions.  An  interesting  example 
,of  the  costume  of  this  time  is  seen  in  the  effigy  of  Queen 
Eleanor  which  is  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

The  women,  all  in  loose  tunics  and  gowns,  loose  coaTs, 
hoods  and  wimples,  brightly  coloured  and  homely, 
made  a  background  on  pageant  days  for  the  few  excep- 
tions to  the  general  plainness,  for  at  Kenilworth  we 
hear  of  one  hundred  lords  and  ladies,  everyone  clothed 
in  silk,  seated  at  the  table  at  once,  though  geographical 
conditions,  the  mental  attitude  of  domesticity,  the  war- 
like strain  of  chivalry  and  many  other  contributing 
causes  prevented  the  development  in  England  of  cos- 

41 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

tumes  as  gorgeous  as  those  found  almost  commonly  in 
France  and  Italy. 

There  seems  to  have  been  very  little  commerce  be- 
tween England  and  southern  Europe  or  the  East  until 
the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  although  Italy 
began  to  make  silk  at  Palermo  in  1148.  This  accounts 
in  part  for  the  lack  of  velvet  and  other  fine  stuffs  in  ear- 
lier centuries  with  the  exception  of  the  little  that  found 
its  way  through  the  crusaders  and  through  small  pri- 
vate enterprise. 

Hallam  says  that  "throughout  the  fourteenth  century 
there  continued  to  be  a  rapid  but  steady  progress  in 
England  of  what  we  may  denominate  elegance,  im- 
provement, or  luxury,  just  before  the  breaking  of  the 
English  wars."  He  states  that  an  expanding  fondness 
for  dress  was  not  confined  to  the  higher  ranks  of  the 
burghers,  whose  foolish  emulations  at  least  indicated 
their  circumstances;  then  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact 
that  "dress  does  not  deserve  his  particular  account,  but 
it  does  show  the  universal  prevalence  of  great  wealth 
widely  diffused,"  and  he  begs  us  to  remember  the  in- 
vectives bestowed  by  the  clergy  on  the  fantastic  ex- 
travagance of  fashion.  Verily  people  are  always  the 
same,  with  the  same  impulses,  the  same  vanities,  the 
same  hypocricies  and  the  same  absurdities.  The 
mediaeval  woman  fared  no  better  and  probably  did  no 
worse  than  her  sister  of  to-day,  individual  manifesta- 
tions in  costume  were  a  little  different,  that  is  all. 

We  read  of  a  knight,  near  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  attempting  to  discourage  his  daughters  from 
the  "superfluity  of  dress"  by  telling  them  of  another 
knight  who  went  to  a  certain  hermit-saint  to  ascertain 
42 


MID-FOURTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  A  SPIRITUAL  CONCEPT 
CLOTHED  AND  SET  WITH  GOTHIC  TASTE,  IN  WHICH  THE  ROYAL 
IDEA  OF  DIVINE  MATERNITY  IS  A  FEATURE  OF  THE  ILLUSTRA- 
TION, INSTEAD  OF  THE  POVERTY  OF  THE  MANGER. 


MEDIAEVAL  EUROPE 

if  the  soul  of  his  wife,  who  had  recently  died,  was  surely 
saved.  '  The  hermit,  after  many  prayers,  dreamed  that 
he  saw  Seint  Michelle  &  the  develle  that  had  her  in  a 
balaunce,  &  alle  her  good  dedes  in  the  same  balaunce, 
&  a  develle  &  alle  her  evelle  dedes  in  that  other  bal- 
aunce. &  the  most  that  grevid  her  was  her  good  &  gay 
clothing,  &  furres  of  gray  menivere  &  letuse;  &  the 
develle  cried  &  saide,  Seint  Michelle,  this  woman  had 
tenne  diverse  gownes  &  as  mani  cotes;  &  thou  wost 
welle  lesse  myghte  have  suffised  her  after  the  lawe  of 
God;  .  .  .  &  he  toke  all  her  juellys  &  rynges.  .  .  . 
&  caste  hem  in  the  balaunce  with  her  evelle  dedes.  The 
evelle  dedes  passed  the  good,  &  weyed  downe  &  over- 
came her  good  dedes.  &  there  the  develle  toke  her,  & 
bare  her  away,  &  putte  her  clothes  &  aray  brennyng  in 
the  flawme  on  her  with  the  fire  of  helle,  &  kist  her  doune 
into  the  pitte  of  helle;  ...  &  the  pore  soul  cried, 
&  made  moche  sorughe  &  pite  .  .  .  but  it  boted 
not." 

By  1325  the  men  had  dropped  their  loose  garments 
and  we  find  them  in  "  cotehardies,"  something  very  like 
a  vest,  made  of  silk.  The  hood  was  lengthened  to  a 
peak  touching  the  ground  and  fashion  busied  herself 
trying  to  invent  new  ways  to  wind  this  about  the  head 
and  body  in  a  decorative  way. 

About  this  time  appeared  the  mode  of  dividing  the 
body  in  halves  vertically  by  using  entirely  different 
colours;  belts  also  came  into  general  use  and  hats  were 
trimmed  with  fur. 

While  the  men  made  all  these  changes  we  learn 
that  there  was  practically  no  alteration  in  the  costumes 
of  women.  There  were  three  parts  to  the  dress:  an 

43 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

under-gown,  loose  and  made  with  a  very  long  train;  a 
short  over-dress,  to  the  knees,  had  short  wide  sleeves 
and  was  full  skirted;  thrown  over  all  this  was  a  kind  of 
surcoat,  like  a  man's,  with  cut  out  holes  for  the  arms. 
On  the  head  was  worn  a  wimple  and  about  the  neck  a 
gorget.  It  is  curious  that  for  half  a  century  Dame 
Fashion  seems  to  have  played  with  the  fancies  of  these 
austere  male  "barbarians"  and  left  the  ladies  uncor- 
rupted,  for  toward  the  end  of  the  century  we  see  men 
still  following  the  general  vogue.  "  Nearly  every  man," 
we  read,  "is  alike  in  one  respect,  is  clean  shaven,  with 
long  hair  to  his  neck,  curled  at  his  ears  and  on  the  fore- 
head. Round  the  hips  of  every  man  is  a  leather  belt 
from  which  hangs  a  purse."  The  knights  of  this  time 
are  described  as  all  wearing  parti-coloured  clothes, 
striped  vertically,  horizontally,  and  diagonally,  and  all 
in  velvet,  silk,  and  woollen  stuffs. 

Finally  the  women  fell,  for  in  1400  we  find  this  de- 
scription: "If  ever  women  were  led  by  the  nose  by  the 
demon  fashion  it  was  at  this  time.  Not  only  were  their 
clothes  ill-suited  to  them,  but  they  abused  their  crowning 
glory,  their  hair." 

Evidently  the  gay  knight  kept  the  lead,  however,  for 
at  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  fifteenth  century 
the  same  authority  writes:  "Still,  among  all  these  gen- 
tlemen, clothed,  as  it  were  secondhand,  we  have  the 
fine  fellow,  the  dandy — he  to  whom  dress  is  a  religion, 
to  whom  stuffs  are  sonnets,  cuts  are  lyrical,  and  tailors 
are  the  poets  of  their  age.  Such  a  man  will  have  his 
tunic  neatly  pleated,  rejecting  the  chance  folds  of  the 
easy -fitting  houppelande,  the  folds  of  which  were  deter- 
mined by  the  buckling  of  the  belt.  His  folds  will  be 
44 


MEDIEVAL  EUROPE 

regular  and  precise,  his  collar  will  be  very  stiff,  with  a 
rolled  top;  his  shoes  will  match  his  hose,  and  be  of  two 
colours;  his  turban  hat  will  be  cocked  at  a  jaunty  angle; 
his  sleeves  will  be  of  a  monstrous  length  and  width. 
He  will  hang  a  chain  about  his  neck,  and  load  his  fingers 
with  rings.  A  fellow  to  him,  one  of  his  own  kidney, 
will  wear  the  skirt  of  his  tunic  a  little  longer,  and  will 
cause  it  to  be  cut  up  the  middle;  his  sleeves  will  not  be 
pendant,  like  drooping  wings,  but  will  be  swollen  like 
full-blown  bagpipes.  An  inner  sleeve,  very  finely  em- 
broidered, will  peep  under  the  upper  cuff.  His  collar 
is  cropped  in  the  new  manner,  like  a  priest's  without  a 
tonsure;  his  hat  is  of  the  queer  sugar-bag  shape,  and  it 
flops  in  a  drowsy  elegance  over  the  stuffed  brim.  As 
for  his  shoes,  they  are  two  fingers  long  beyond  his  toes." 

After  all,  even  in  England,  fundamental  human 
impulses  seem  to  have  been  active;  the  same  vanities 
and  illusions  abounded,  while  the  male  sex  appears  to 
have  been  first  to  show  pride  in  brilliant  plumage,  and 
to  have  succeeded  in  exploiting  it/ the  only  difference 
between  this  phase  of  costume  expression  and  that  of 
Italy  and  France  being  due  to  the  quality  of  the  aes- 
thetic sense,  the  materials  attainable,  geographic 
position  and  restricted  cultural  development.  / 

In  writing  of  mediaeval  Europe  one  historian  de- 
clares that  "No  other  country  [speaking  of  Italy]  could 
exhibit  so  fair  a  picture  of  middle  life.  In  France  the 
burghers  and  even  the  inferior  gentry  were  in  a  state 
of  poverty  at  this  period,  which  they  concealed  by  an 
affectation  of  ornament  leading  to  display.  Our  Eng- 
lish yeomanry  and  tradesmen  were  more  anxious  to  in- 
vigorate their  bodies  by  a  generous  diet  than  to  dwell 

45 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

in  well-furnished  houses  or  to  find  comfort  in  cleanliness 
or  elegance."  And  this  as  late  as  1400.  From  such 
accounts  it  would  appear  that  Italy,  "fair  and  brilliant " 
to  the  end,  even  in  the  mediaeval  period  developed  a 
somewhat  democratic  attitude  to  the  arts,  which  a 
century  later  had  so  affected  the  thoughts  and  lives 
of  the  people  that  it  was  said  that  "no  ugly  thing  was 
created  even  in  the  humblest  form  or  of  the  coarsest 
material." 

It  seems  also  that  France,  torn  by  war  and  discour- 
aged with  domestic  problems,  was  true  to  form  and 
sought  to  convey  the  impression  of  decorative  appear- 
ance whatever  the  conditions  might  be  under  the 
surface,  while  England  saw  as  clearly  as  ever  the  part 
played  by  good  diet,  and  was  no  less  cognizant  of  the 
presence  of  the  material  body  and  the  necessity  that  it 
be  well  made,  than  she  is  now  or  ever  has  been. 

By  1400  the  hour  of  mediaeval  life  had  struck,  and 
consequently  of  mediaeval  art.  Its  shadow  lingered 
for  near  a  century  in  the  west  but  the  expression  was 
abnormal,  for  it  was  insincere.  The  spirit  was  dead 
and  the  body,  robbed  of  its  soul,  refused  to  function 
and  began  slowly  to  crumble  away. 

In  Italy  a  new  soul  was  already  born,  and  a  new  body 
quickly  made  its  appearance.  Into  France  and  into 
England  this  new  spirit  gradually  made  its  way  in  the 
last  half  of  the  century  and,  raising  its  voice  amidst 
the  ruin  of  Europe's  mediaeval  ideals,  bade  the  people 
awake  to  hear  the  message  of  a  new  order  and  to  create 
anew  in  its  image  and  likeness.  This  struggle  of  the 
new  spirit  for  recognition,  appreciation,  and  expression 
is  the  history  of  the  Renaissance. 
46 


CHAPTER  TWO 

THE    RENAISSANCE    IN    ITALY 

IF  Medievalism  was  an  institution  the  Renaissance 
was  certainly  no  less  one.  In  truth  i\  was  more  in  the 
nature  of  its  elements  and  in  the  complexity  of  its  ap- 
plication that  it  differed  from  the  system  that  it  dis- 
placed, than  it  was  in  its  general  aims  or  its  function. 
It  had  its  own  beliefs,  ideals,  and  practices,  its  own 
particular  focal  thought  around  which  the  life  of  the 
period  was  built,  and  out  of  this  grew  an  art  expression 
which  may  justly  be  called  the  beginning  of  modern 
art,  as  the  institution  itself  was  the  beginning  of  mod- 
ern civilization. 

/  Medievalism  was  dead  at  the  dawn  of  the  fourteenth 
century;  its  ideals  were  shattered,  its  practices  out- 
grown, and  its  spontaneous  expression  no  longer  possi- 
ble, yet  its  shadow  has  always  hung  over  and  about  the 
haunts  of  its  birth  and  the  environment  wherein  it 
was  manifest.  The  surrender  of  its  power  to  the  ever- 
progressing  tide  of  human  evolution  was  slow  and  hesi- 
tating. Its  ideals,  which  have  become  an  integral 
part  of  the  consciousness  of  European  We,  will  never 
be  altogether  lost  although  they  are,  more  and  more, 
becoming  relegated  to  our  subconsciousness.  While 
they  do,  and  always  will,  colour  to  some  degree  the 
quality  of  our  thought,  they  are  no  longer  susceptible 

47 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

of  complete  focalization  and  therefore  are  incapable 
of  a  complete  expression. 

It  was  in  Italy  that  the  Renaissance  was  born,  nur- 
tured, developed,  and  perfected.  Here  it  was  indigenous 
and  here  it  produced  first  and  most  rapidly  its  fullest 
expression;  here  also  its  decline  and  decay  may  be  most 
fully  comprehended.  The  reason  for  this  will  appear 
more  clearly  as  we  attempt  very  briefly  to  outline  what 
the  Renaissance  was  and  why  it  was,  leading  to  an  ap- 
preciation of  some  of  its  most  important  accomplish- 
ments. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  try  to  sense  anew  the 
nature  and  meaning  of  this  new  form  of  experience  in 
order  the  better  to  comprehend  its  power,  its  scope, 
and  its  manifestation  in  the  material  world.  To  do 
this  necessitates  our  recalling  once  more  the  origin  of 
the  Renaissance  and  what  each  of  its  component  ele- 
ments really  sought  to  express. 

First  we  must  anew  see  clearly  .the  essence  of 
mediaeval  mind,  its  ideal  of  religious  domination,  in 
which  the  spirit  soughllo  control  and  finally  to  eliminate 
the  body,  through  mortification  and  discipline;  its  over- 
wrought imaginings,  its  artistic  triumphs,  and  its  system 
of  honour,  military  control,  and  social  intercourse. 

A  life  completely  set  to  religion  was  the  ideal  of 
mediaeval  consciousness  and  its  attainment  was  sought 
through  a  determination  to  destroy  the  desire  for,  and 
delight  in,  material  things,  particularly  as  these  things 
constituted  a  response  to  the  appetites.  This  was  the 
atmosphere,  or  rather  the  sieve,  through  which  the 
second  element  of  the  Renaissance  was  to  pass  as  it 
merged  into  the  new  order. 
48 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

The  second  element  we  know  as  Classicism,  which 
embodied  the  ideals  and  practices  of  the  ancients.  Of 
this  we  have  spoken  in  Chapter  I  and  need  only  recall 
how  entirely  different  was  its  spirit,  which  sought  the 
elevation  and  perfection  of  human  life  through  the 
conception  of  natural  beauty.  Life  was  built  around 
this  idea,  which  regulated  the  appetites,  amusements, 
and  Me  work,  all  to  one  end.  Greek  art  was  the  result, 
and  Roman  art  its  practical  application  to  the  great 
political  social  system  which  still  lacked  the  spiritual 
consciousness  developed  by  medisevalism. 

The  third  eleinent«was  the  conscious  acceptance  of  the 
appetites  as  something  to  be  satisfied,  at  first  legiti- 
mately, but  finally,  as  they  grew  in  importance  in  the 
Renaissance  mind,  furnishing  the  dominating  impulse 
in  life's  endeavours,  and  determining  its  destiny.  This 
third  element  may  be  called,  in  the  broadest  sense, 
Humanism,  which  involves  the  recognition  of  human 
rights  and  possibilities  as  opposed  to  spiritual  domina- 
tion. These  three  ideals  may  be  briefly  described  as  the 
classic  or  aesthetic,  the  mediaeval  or  spiritual,  and  the 
humanistic,  or  the  sensuous  and  material. 

The  Renaissance  then,  was  the  rebirth  of  classic 
ideals  and  practices  filtered  through  a  mediaeval  Gothic 
mind  with  the  constantly  growing  urge  of  the  redis- 
covered and  liberated  sense  appetites  which  claimed 
more  and  more  attention  and  satisfaction  until  the 
Baroque  was  reached  and  exploited.  The  gradual 
development  and  maturity  of  this  idea  is  the  history  of 
the  social  art  expression  of  this  period. 

"The  spirit  of  chivalry  left  behind  it  a  more  valuable 
successor.  The  character  of  knight  gradually  subsided 

49 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

in  that  of  gentleman ;  and  the  one  distinguishes  European 
society  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  as 
much  as  the  other  did  in  the  preceding  ages,"  writes  Hal- 
lam.  How  the  old  ideal  was  gradually  merged  in  the  new 
and  how  the  leaven  of  humanism  slowly  made  itself  felt 
at  first,  and  finally  became  the  absorbing  interest  in  life, 
with  the  decline  and  decay  that  always  follows  the  abso- 
lute surrender  of  reason  and  restraint  to  the  appetites  and 
materialism,  is  well  summed  up  by  him  in  the  following 
description:  "A  jealous  sense  of  honour  less  romantic 
but  equally  elevated,  a  ceremonious  gallantry  and 
politeness,  a  strictness  in  devotional  observances,  a 
high  pride  of  birth  and  feeling  of  dependence  upon  any 
sovereign  for  the  dignity  it  gave,  a  sympathy  for  martial 
honour  though  more  subdued  by  civil  habits."  This 
is  followed  by  the  comment:  :'Time  has  effaced  much 
of  this  gentlemanly  as  it  did  before  the  chivalrous 
character  from  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  its  figure  and  beauty  have  undergone  a  tacit 
decay  and  yielded  perhaps  in  every  country  of  increas- 
ing commercial  wealth  more  diffused  instruction,  the 
spirit  of  general  liberty  in  some,  of  servile  obsequious- 
ness in  others,  the  modes  of  life  in  great  cities  and  the 
levelling  custom  of  social  intercourse." 

Little  art  was  produced  in  the  fourteenth  century 
that  was  not  religious,  a  notable  exception  being  the 
costumes,  which  very  early  felt  the  influence  of  the 
decline  in  religious  fervour  and  responded  quickly.  In 
the  fifteenth  century  art  was  chiefly  religious  in  its  con- 
ception, but  its  spirit  often  betrayed  the  growth  of  the 
humanistic  idea,  which  became  more  and  more  em- 
phasized in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  appeared  in  an 
50 


II 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

altered  phase  of  art,  particularly  as  it  was  expressed  in 
the  house,  in  the  inventions  of  fashion  and  as  it  related 
to  costumes  and  personal  ornamentation. 

A  contemporary  writer  tells  us  that  the  decrease  of 
severe  religious  convictions  was  accompanied  by  laxity 
of  morals,  so  it  is  not  surprising  that  ladies  of  doubtful 
reputation  but  great  beauty  were  selected  by  artists  as 
models  for  Madonnas  and  other  religious  pictures. 
This  in  part  accounts  for  the  growing  tendency  in  the 
fifteenth  century  to  portray  female  saints  arrayed  in  all 
(the  gorgeous  trappings  of  the  most  noble  ladies  and  the 
most  notorious  courtesans  of  the  time,  and  it  also  ac- 
counts in  part,  at  least,  for  the  mixed  ecclesiastic  and 
secular  modes  appearing  in  the  clothes  represented  in 
Renaissance  painting  in  the  early  decades  of  the  century. 

Except  in  a  complete  treatment  of  this  subject  it  is 
not  safe  to  attempt  a  division  of  the  period  into  any- 
thing but  centuries,  and  even  then  one  epoch  overlaps 
another  in  its  development,  and  one  ideal  fades  into 
another  in  such  a  way  that  classification  is  difficult,  if 
not  impossible.  All  that  we  can  do  is  to  fall  back  upon 
the  time-worn  practice  of  saying:  "it  depends  upon  the 
point  of  view." 

The  architect  loves  to  date  the  Renaissance  from 
Brunelleschi  (1379  to  1446)  or  from  his  dome  on  the 
cathedral  of  Florence;  on  the  other  hand  the  sculptor 
talks  of  Pisano  and  his  work  at  Pisa  and  Siena;  while 
the  painter  sees  the  Renaissance  idea,  in  embryo  at 
least,  in  the  works  of  Cimabue,  Giotto,  and  Orcagna. 
Literary  men  regard  the  decay  of  the  Eastern,  empire 
and  the  migration  to  Italy  of  Greek  scholars  with  their 
old  manuscripts  and  models  as  marking  the  birth  of  the 

51 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Renaissance;  but  no  one  of  these  views  can  satisfy  us  if 
we  are  to  think  broadly  of  the  ideal  to  be  expressed,  how 
this  ideal  was  formulated  and  how  it  was  externalized  in 
material  social  form.  We  shall  therefore  not  attempt  a 
chronological  arrangement  or  try  to  fix  exact  dates  as  to 
what  is  generally  known  as  the  early  and  the  high 
Renaissance  and  its  period  of  decline,  but  shall  think  in 
terms  of  Renaissance  elements:  the  Early,  in  which  the 
Gothic  ecclesiastic  spirit  is  in  the  ascendency;  the 
High,  with  the  noble,  grand,  and  slightly  autocratic 
social  ideal  dominating  the  ecclesiastic;  and  the  De- 
cline, which  sought  by  an  inordinately  grandiose  and 
sumptuous  luxuriousness  to  thrill  and  satisfy  the  already 
satiated  senses.  The  culmination  of  this  last  "is  known 
as  the  Baroque,  which  had  its  climax  at  Venice  and 
in  Rome. 

•  Social  lite  during  the  Renaissance  was  centred 
around  the  house  instead  of  the  church.  .  At  first  the 
gloomy  barrack  castles  were  refurnished  or  more 
completely  furnished,  as  the  growth  of  humanistic 
ideas  created  a  desire  for  greater  and  wider  practices  of 
the  social  arts,  with  a  growing  admiration  for  luxury 
and  display.  After  1450,  however,  noble  palaces  arose 
in  Florence,  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  Rome,  and 
later  in  Venice,  while  the  feudal  castles  at  Ferrara, 
Milan,  Mantua,  and  Urbino  were  either  added  to,  or 
new  and  more  comfortable  buildings  were  erected  in 
their  places.  Boulting  describes  general  conditions  in 
these  terms: 

"Need  we  describe  the  noble  elevation  of  the  palaces 
that  arose  during  the  Renaissance;  how  powerful  yet 
how  light  they  looked;  or  the  glowing  harmony  of 
52 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

delicate  colour  set  off  by  gold,  within  doors,  every  room 
different  from  all  the  others,  and  full  of  invention? 
The  furniture,  never  too  crowded,  was  nobly  carved, 
the  sideboards  supported  plate  exquisitely  graven; 
elegant  lamps  hung  from  the  ceiling  or  sprang  in  beauti- 
ful curves  from  the  walls;  priceless  books  were  gathered 
together  in  the  library.  There  were  great  shining 
copper  vessels  to  cool  the  wines;  musical  instruments  lay 
about;  there  was  profusion  of  glass  and  majolica  and, 
here  and  there,  quiet  altars  of  delicate  workmanship. 
Lace  was  used  for  the  adornment  of  wondrous  bedsteads 
before  it  became  an  article  of  personal  dress.  Great 
importance  was  attached  to  the  occupation  of  a  bed  as 
splendid  as  it  was  unwholesome  and  funereally  solemn. 
When  Giovanni  Andrea  d'Oria  received  the  Duchess  of 
Loreno  in  1579  he  provided  for  her  use  an  elaborately 
carved  bed  adorned  with  the  richest  gold  fringe.  From 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  leather  hangings  were 
often  used  instead  of  arras  and  tapestries;  they  were 
originally  an  Italian  product,  though  Spaniards  and 
French  learned  the  art  of  making  them.  Great  ladies 
Sat  on  uncomfortable  sofas  or  great  stiff  chairs  with 
armorial  bearings  and  a  shelter  for  the  head." 

Crowds  of  servants  replaced  the  feudal  retainers. 
Renee  of  Ferrara  had,  of  her  own  separate  household  in 
1529,  four  secretaries,  a  chief  lady  and  seven  maids  of 
honour,  an  almoner,  two  choristers,  six  maids  of  the 
bedchamber,  six  equerries,  doctors,  and  altogether, 
about  two  hundred  attendants  and  servants.  The 
greatest  artists  were  employed  in  painting  the  walls  in 
fresco,  in  designing  the  furniture,  and  in  modelling 
pieces  of  plate.  In  the  sixteenth  century  Michael 

53 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Angelo  did  not  disdain  to  bestow  his  genius  on  a  salt' 
cellar. 

Sansovini,  who  wrote  near  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  tells  us  he  is  unable  to  describe  the  richness  of 
the  interior  of  the  Venetian  palaces.  Another  writer 
declares  that  one  is  utterly  dumbfounded  at  the  in- 
teriors, which  are  filled  with  beautiful  pictures,  sculp- 
tures, ornaments,  tapestries,  gold,  silver,  and  other 
precious  adornments,  so  that  if  he  attempted  to  tell 
about  them  all  men  would  call  him  a  liar. 

The  costumes  of  the  first  three  quarters  of  the 
fifteenth  century  show  admirably  how  strongly  in- 
trenched was  the  ecclesiastic  influence  that  constituted 
mediaeval  idealism,  as  indeed  do  some  of  the  frescoes 
of  even  the  last  quarter  of  the  century.  So  long  as  the 
painter's  craft  was  mainly  employed  in  the  decoration 
of  churches  or  other  ecclesiastical  buildings  the  spirit  of 
the  early  ideal  influenced  immensely  the  costumes  of  the 
figures  portrayed  and  these  in  turn  reacted  on  the 
fashions  exploited  in  the  social  world.  Even  Angelico, 
Masaccio,  Orcagna,  Fabriano,  Gozzoli,  and  the  elder 
Lippi  illustrate  this  spirit,  while  old  documents  show 
the  same  trend  of  thought  in  secular  life. 

Just  as  soon,  however,  as  social  life  assumed  more  im- 
portance than  religious  idealism  a  change  took  place  and 
by  1500  clothes  for  saints  conceived  according  to  a 
spiritual  ideal  were  a  thing  of  the  past,  for  instead  of 
saints  being  regarded  as  models  for  fine  ladies  and 
others,  fine  ladies  and  others  became  models  for  saints, 
until  even  saints  were  dressed  as  women  saw  fit  to 
dictate.  The  most  interesting  psychological  process  of 
this  epoch  is  found  in  the  complete  change  in  the 
54 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

general  appearance  and  in  the  costumes  of  the  female 
saints,  as  humanism  displaced  medievalism  and  the 
surrender  of  humanism  to  sense  appetite  took  place. 

Old  pictures  from  1400  to  1475  furnish  the  finest 
costume  documents  of  that  period,  while  those  of  the 
next  century  are  the  most  illuminating  as  to  the 
psychological  change,  for  the  type  which  they  represent 
is  that  of  the  real  woman  instead  of  the  ideal  one,  the 
great  lady  or  the  most  notorious  courtesan  being 
substituted  for  the  imaginary  saint. 

As  wealth  increased  and  human  requirements  became 
more  important,  lavishness  of  display  in  art  extended  to 
the  most  natural  family  functions  and  events.  Eleo- 
nora  of  Aragon,  wife  of  Ercole  I.  of  Ferrara,  in  1474 
ordered  for  the  cradle  four  woollen  mattresses  and  a 
bolster,  all  to  be  covered  with  azure  blue  taffeta,  white 
damask  hangings  and  a  silk  coverlet  of  white  damask 
lined  with  taffeta. 

At  the  birth  of  the  young  prince,  son  of  Lodovico 
Sforza  and  Beatrice  d'Este,  in  1493,  a  maid  of  honour 
writes  this  most  wonderful  account  of  the  event  and  its 
setting: 

"On  the  eve  of  the  young  prince's  birth,  the  sump- 
tuous cradle  and  layette  prepared  for  his  reception  were 
shown  to  the  Ambassadors,  chief  magistrates,  and 
nobles  of  Milan,  and  displayed  on  tables  covered  with 
gold  and  crimson  brocade,  lined  with  Spanish  cat,  in  the 
Sala  del  Tesoro,  adjoining  Beatrice's  rooms.  All  through 
the  next  fortnight  costly  gifts  for  the  young  duchess  and 
her  new-born  babe  were  received  from  the  magistrates 
of  Milan  and  the  chief  towns  of  the  duchy,  and  principal 
courtiers.  On  Sunday,  the  4th  of  February,  the 

55 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

ambassadors,  councillors,  magistrates,  and  court  offi- 
cials, together  with  many  noble  Milanese  ladies  were 
invited  to  present  their  congratulations  to  Beatrice, 
and  that  evening  the  gifts  presented  to  her  were  publicly 
displayed  in  the  Sala  del  Tesoro.  The  doors  of  the 
shelves  along  the  walls  were  thrown  open,  and  the 
splendid  gold  and  silver  plate,  the  massive  jars,  bowls, 
vases,  and  dishes,  which  they  contained,  were  ranged 
in  tiers  on  a  stand,  protected  by  iron  bars  and  guarded 
by  two  men-at-arrns  wearing  ducal  liveries. 

"There  they  were  received  by  stewards  clad  in  silver 
brocade,  who  led  them  through  a  suite  of  rooms  adorned 
with  gilded  columns  and  hung  with  white  damask 
curtains  richly  embroidered  with  equestrian  figures  and 
other  Sforzesque  devices,  into  the  presence  of  the 
duchess.  This  chamber  was  still  more  richly  decorated 
than  the  others.  "Indeed,  it  is  calculated,"  writes  the 
admiring  maid  of  honour,  "the  tapestries  and  hangings 
here  are  worth  70,000  ducats.  Two  pages  guarded  the 
doors,  and  within,  near  the  fireplace,  Duchess  Leonora 
sat  at  her  daughter's  bedside,  accompanied  by  two  or 
three  ladies.  Beatrice's  own  couch  was  gorgeously 
adorned  with  draperies  of  mulberrry  colour  and  gold, 
and  a  crimson  canopy  bearing  the  names  of  Lodovico 
and  Beatrice  in  massive  gold,  with  red  and  white 
rosettes  and  a  fringe  of  golden  balls  which  alone  was 
valued  at  8,000  ducats." 

Another  document  relates  that  when  a  Milanese 
priest  was  visiting  Venice  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  he  was  invited  to  call  upon  a  lady,  the  mother 
of  a  young  child,  and  that  there  were  in  the  chamber  at 
the  time  twenty-five  damsels  each  more  beautiful  than 
56 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

the  other.  They  showed  not  above  four  or  six  fingers, 
breadth  of  naked  flesh  below  the  shoulder,  in  front  and 
behind.  The  bed  must  have  cost  500  ducats,  while 
the  jewels  of  the  visitors  cost  29  times  that  sum,  and  he 
remarks  that  "all  of  their  faces  were  very  well  painted." 
It  seems  that  function  had  no  more  relation  with  fitness 
then  than  now,  and  that  if  no  occasion  for  display 
presented  itself  the  ladies  of  the  Renaissance  could 
make  one  to  order. 

Up  to  the  late  decades  of  the  fifteenth  century 
travel  from  one  place  to  another  was  uniformly  on 
horseback,  excepting  that  occasionally  a  litter  was  used 
for  very  highborn  ladies.  Caterina  Sforza  in  1495  is 
found  riding  in  a  sort  of  carriage,  but  it  was  in  1509  that 
Cardinal  Ippolito  d'Este  brought  from  Hungary  the 
first  cumbrous  coach,  while  by  the  end  of  the  first 
quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  we  read  that  in  the 
broad,  well-paved  streets  of  Milan  "there  are  so  many 
superb  carriages  ornamented  with  the  finest  gilding 
and  carved  so  richly,  drawn  by  four  magnificent  horses 
(some  had  three  or  four  horses,  and  an  incredible 
number  had  two,  all  with  the  richest  coverings  of  silk 
and  gold — prinking  of  various  designs)  so  that  when  the 
ladies  take  the  air  in  the  country  it  is  like  a  Roman 
triumph." 

The  climax  of  the  Renaissance  was  reached  about 
1500,  and  for  the  following  three  decades  its  luxury, 
grandeur,  and  magnificence  had  no  parallel,  certainly 
since  the  height  of  the  Roman  Empire,  perhaps  not  even 
then.  Humanism,  which  was  but  a  feeling,  evident 
only  in  spots  during  the  fourteenth  century,  grew  and 
blossomed  into  an  orderly  institution  in  the  fifteenth 

57 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

century.  The  period  of  the  ecclesiastical  setting  had 
passed,  the  church  itself  embraced  the  humanistic  ideal 
and  by  1500  was  furnishing  some  of  the  greatest 
humanists  from  its  clergy,  and  even  among  its  popes. 
While  the  change  of  mental  attitude  was  gradual,  it  was 
none  the  less  complete.  The  distinct  mediaeval  flavour 
that  permeated  the  art  of  the  earliest  Renaissance  was 
slowly  becoming  little  more  than  a  vapour  of  suggestion 
and  was  finally  practically  lost. 

The  worship  of  the  ancients  too,  was  growing,  with 
more  and  more  enthusiasm.  Study  of  them  and  their 
works  fostered  the  spirit  of  culture  and  increased  the 
spread  of  learning  everywhere,  which  had  the  effect  of 
influencing,  though  not  entirely  dominating,  the  art  of 
the  High  Renaissance.  Living  for  the  sake  of  life  itself, 
as  expressed  in  material  things,  became  the  criterion. 
With  it  came  the  surrender  to  the  appetites  through  the 
senses,  which  by  1600  may  be  said  to  have  been  complete, 
after  which  came  the  decline  and  resulting  decay. 

By  far  the  most  important  part  of  the  period  to  us  is 
the  High  Renaissance,  when  humanistic  ideas  became 
supreme,  while  the  Gothic  spirit  hovered  near,  soft- 
ening it  and  giving  it  soul,  and  while  the  pure  form 
ideals  of  the  ancients  provided  restraint  with  grandeur, 
gave  sincerity  to  luxury  and  consistency  to  magnifi- 
cence. It  was  this  epoch  that  produced  Bramante, 
Peruzzi,  Michael  Angelo,  Leonardo,  and  Raphael,  with 
the  host  of  artist  craftsmen  who  created  ceaselessly 
and  joyously  for  such  great  patrons  of  art  as  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent  and  others  at  Florence;  for  the  dukes 
of  Urbino,  Ferrara,  Milan,  and  Mantua;  and  for  such 
great  ladies  as  the  Duchess  Isabella  d'Este,  Duchess 
58 


SECOND  PART  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  THE  ELEMENTAL 
IMPULSES  SEEN  IN  THE  BODIES,  FACES,  POSES,  AND  COSTUMES, 
ALTHOUGH  THE  IDEA  TO  BE  EXPRESSED  IS  A  SPIRITUAL  ONE. 
ATTENTION  IS  DIRECTED  TO  THE  BOUDOIR  CAP  AND  THE  OPERA 
CAPE. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

Beatrice  of  Milan,  Duchess  Leonora  of  Ferrara,  Duchess 
Elizabeth  of  Urbino,  Lucrezia  Borgia,  Vittoria  Colonna, 
and  others.  The  luxury  and  grandeur  of  the  northern 
countries  and  the  restrained  magnificence  of  Florence 
were  echoed  in  a  less  decided  manner  in  the  cities  and 
towns  that  felt  these  influences  through  proximity  or  by 
other  association. 

Increase  in  wealth  and  also  in  learning  brought  about 
a  lively  commerce  with  the  East,  as  new  and  rich 
materials,  larger  and  rarer  gems,  were  required  to  set 
properly  the  superb  stage  upon  which  this  brilliant  and 
cultured  social  life-play  was  being  enacted. 

We  recall  that  this  ideal  had  been  taking  consistent 
form  in  Italy  and  that  France  and  England  were  still 
clinging  to  the  old  traditions  of  mediae  valism,  trying  to 
adjust  the  formulae  to  changed  political  conceptions,  to 
cooled  religious  fervour  and  to  the  progress  of  the 
social  idea.  Very  little  knowledge  of  conditions  in 
Italy  had  found  its  way  into  France  and  the  surprise  and 
amazement  of  Charles  VIII  and  his  army  when  they 
passed  through  Piedmont  and  Lombardy  in  1494  on 
their  way  to  Naples  can  be  imagined.  Staley,  in  his 
"Lords  and  Ladies  of  the  Italian  Lakes, "  gives  us  a  most 
charming  and  altogether  enlightening  account  of  this 
visit  of  Charles,  as  follows: 

"He  and  his  courtiers  were  amazed  at  the  magni- 
ficence of  their  reception,  and  particularly  at  the 
gorgeousness  of  the  Duchess's  apparel.  Her  jewels 
greatly  outnumbered  Charles's;  she  was  weighed  down 
with  chains  and  collars  of  solid  gold  and  flashing  gems; 
and  her  fingers  were  completely  covered  with  fine 
rings.  She  wore  upon  her  head  a  Ducal  crown  of  gold, 

59 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

studded  with  huge  diamonds  and  rubies.  The 
Duchess's  robes  were  of  cloth  of  gold  and  silver  tissue 
worn  over  the  richest  petticoats  of  costly  green  silk 
velvet;  her  train  was  a  mass  of  curious  embroidery  in 
cabalistic  figures  and  designs  of  witchcraft, — so  at 
least  they  seemed  to  be  to  the  French  visitors. 

"  One  day,  mounted  on  a  pure  white  steed  caparisoned 
in  cloth  of  gold,  and  a  lace  chemisette  open  at  the  breast, 
her  well  curled  hair  was  tied  with  gold  cord  and  pearls, 
and  tied  with  silk  ribbons  floating  down  her  back.  She 
wore  a  crimson  wide  brimmed  felt  hat  turned  up  at  the 
side,  with  six  red  feathers  and  a  jewelled  brooch.  She 
sat  astride,  as  did  her  suite  of  twenty  beautiful  girls, 
each  attired  like  herself.  Six  chariots  followed,  lined 
with  cloth  of  gold  and  green  velvet,  filled  with  ladies  of 
her  court  magnificently  dressed. 

"At  dinner  in  the  evening  the  Duchess  again  wel- 
comed the  king  clothed  in  lustrous  green  satin.  The 
body,  back,  and  front  was  stitched  thickly  with  flashing 
jewels  and  had  the  appearance  of  a  cuirass.  The 
sleeves  were  tight,  but  puffed  on  the  shoulder  and 
entwined  with  bands  of  rubies.  Her  bosom  was  bare, 
the  chemisette  merely  covering  her  corset,  and  round 
her  throat  she  wore  the  biggest  pearls  Charles  had  ever 
seen.  Upon  her  head  Beatrice  had  a  jaunty  little  red 
velvet  cap,  after  the  French  fashion,  with  an  aigrette  of 
green  feathers,  and  a  great  pear-shaped  pearl  sur- 
rounded with  diamonds  and  rubies." 

Lorenzo  de'  Medici  more  than  any  other  man  may  be 
said  to  be  the  greatest  patron  of  art  and  learning  of  the 
Renaissance  period.  The  democratic  form  of  govern- 
ment at  Florence,  the  restrained  and  sober  temper  of 
60 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

its  people,  the  wealth  and  importance  of  many  of  its 
most  prominent  families,  with  the  financial  and  social 
power  of  the  Medici  family,  all  contributed  something 
to  every  branch  of  life  that  was  in  any  way  related  to 
the  humanistic  idea,  as  portrayed  by  the  old  chron- 
iclers. His  annual  expenditure  for  books  alone  was 
something  like  $300,000  of  our  money.  It  is  said  that 
emissaries  were  constantly  searching  the  Orient  and  other 
countries  for  manuscripts,  and  that  a  certain  man  at  one 
time  brought  back  two  hundred  Greek  works,  of  which 
more  than  eighty  had  never  been  seen  in  Italy  before. 
He  endowed  the  Greek  Academy  at  Florence,  be- 
stowed favours  and  money  lavishly  on  all  leaders  in  any 
field  of  learning  and  yearly  allotted  certain  sums  to 
antiquarian  research.  As  a  patron  of  art  he  was  no  less 
intent.  Ghirlandajo  and  Botticelli  worked  for  him  for 
a  long  period;  the  master  craftsmen  in  every  field  were 
called  upon  to  create  and  execute  not  only  for  him 
directly,  but  for  those  who  fell  under  the  spell  of  this 
giant  in  art  appreciation.  This  was  the  psychological 
moment  for  such  encouragement  and  patronage,  for  the 
zenith  of  glory  in  the  High  Renaissance  was  approach- 
ing. Verocchio,  Botticelli,  Ghirlandajo,  Perugino, 
Leonardo,  Lippi,  and  Lorenzo  di  Credi  were  all  at 
Florence,  Bellini  and  Carpaccio  at  Venice,  Mantegna  at 
Mantua,  Francia  at  Bologna,  and  Pinturicchio  at  Peru- 
gia; while  Luini,  Bartolomeo,  Michael  Angelo,  Titian, 
Andrea  del  Sarto,  and  Raphael  were  approaching  their 
debut  in  the  great  constellation  of  master-painters.  In 
other  branches  of  art  a  similar  list  of  immortals  might 
be  given,  each  of  whom  contributed  a  share  to  the  full- 
ness of  glory  of  this  grand  epoch. 

61 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

To  the  frescoes  and  portraits  of  these  artists  we  may 
go  for  the  most  faithful  of  all  records  so  far  as  costumes 
are  concerned.  Botticelli,  that  rare  spirit  of  fanciful 
medisevalism,  with  an  overwhelming  sense  and  un- 
derstanding of  classic  significance  clothed  his  women 
in  late  fifteenth  century  dress  of  exquisite  design,  with 
all  the  charm  of  classic  interpretation.  Ghirlandajo, 
the  master  of  magnificent  realism  and  detail,  has 
given  the  most  illuminating  portrayal  of  the  grandeur 
and  dignity  of  the  Florentine  ladies  of  the  time. 
Titian's  records  of  the  Magnificent  Ones  of  Venice, 
del  Sarto's  sensuous  beauties,  and  Raphael's  per- 
fectly good  and  winsome  ladies  are  too  important 
to  be  lightly  passed  as  social  expressions  of  their 
time;  faithful  documents  all  of  them,  giving  us  in 
the  most  intimate  detail,  each  a  master's  record  of  a 
type  of  Renaissance  lady  enlarged  and  ennobled  by  the 
favoured  interpretation  of  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
painters. 

As  a  devoted  patron  of  art,  among  women,  Isabella  d' 
Este,  Duchess  of  Mantua  was  undoubtedly  the  fore- 
most. She  was  to  the  north  of  Italy  what  Lorenzo  di 
Medici  was  to  Florence,  and  it  was  the  greatest  of 
honours  to  be  called  by  her  to  artistic  service.  Her 
devotion  to  art  was  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
visual  arts.  She  was  a  great  musician  and  was  pos- 
sessed of  much  literary  genius.  Her  knowledge  of  and 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  ancients  was  broad  and 
comprehensive,  while  she  patronized  with  a  most 
lavish  hand  the  artist  craftsmen  of  her  time,  in  every 
field.  Perhaps  something  of  the  feeling  of  the  social  life 
during  the  High  Renaissance  may  be  obtained  through 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

a  brief  discussion  of  her  palace  at  Mantua,  of  its  furnish- 
ings, of  her  costumes  and  of  her  relations  with  the  courts 
of  Ferrara,  Urbino,  and  Milan.  Besides  this,  her  life 
(1474  to  1535)  covers  the  most  important  epoch  of  the 
entire  Renaissance. 

Brought  up  from  infancy  in  an  atmosphere  of  art  in 
the  court  of  Ferrara,  where  her  mother,  the  Duchess 
Leonora,  was  herself  an  ardent  patron  of  art,  Isabella 
at  sixteen  years  of  age  was  married  to  Duke  Francesco 
Gonzaga  of  Mantua.  Mrs.  Cartwright  tells  us  in  her 
"Life  of  Isabella  d'Este"  that  all  through  the  months 
preceding  the  wedding  great  painters,  goldsmiths,  and 
carvers  were  very  busy  preparing  the  trousseau.  "  Early 
in  1489,"  she  says,  "Ercole  Roberti  was  sent  to  Venice 
to  buy  gold-leaf  and  ultramarine  for  the  decoration  of 
the  wedding  chests.  On  his  return  he  painted  thirteen 
cassoni,  for  which  he  employed  eleven  thousand  gold 
leaves,  and  designed  the  nuptial  bed,  and  a  magnificent 
chariot  and  gilded  bucentaur  which  the  Duke  presented 
to  his  daughter.  The  tapestries  and  hangings  for  her 
rooms  were  made  in  Venice,  seals  and  buttons  and 
silver  boxes  for  her  use  were  engraved  by  Ferrarese 
artists,  and  a  portable  silver  altar,  richly  chased  and 
embossed,  together  with  ornaments  and  office-books  to 
match,  were  ordered  from  the  skilled  Milanese  gold- 
smith Fra  Rocco.  The  girdle  or  ma  j  estate,  worn  by 
royal  brides  and  elaborately  worked  in  gold  and  silver, 
was  also  ordered  from  Fra  Rocco,  who  devoted  many 
months  to  the  task,  and  received  600  ducats  from  the 
Duke. 

"The  wedding  was  celebrated  at  Ferrara  on  the  llth 
of  February,  1490,  and  after  the  ceremony  in  the  ducal 

63 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

chapel,  the  bride  rode  through  the  streets  of  the  city  in 
her  fine  new  chariot  draped  with  cloth  of  gold,  with  the 
Duke  of  Urbino  on  horseback  on  her  right  and  the 
Ambassador  of  Naples  on  her  left.  The  banquet 
which  followed  was  one  of  the  most  sumptuous  ever 
held  in  the  Castello  of  Ferrara.  The  walls  of  the  Sala 
Grande  were  hung  with  the  Arras  tapestries  brought 
from  Naples  by  Duchess  Leonora,  including  the 
'Queen  of  Sheba's  Visit  to  Solomon,'  and  six  pieces 
known  as  'La  Pastourelle,'  worked  by  hand  in  gold  and 
silver  and  coloured  silks  of  exquisite  delicacy. 

"The  magnificent  dinner-service  used  at  Isabella's 
wedding  had  been  made  in  Venice  by  a  renowned  gold- 
smith, Georgio  da  Ragusa,  from  Cosimo  Tura's  designs. 
Crystal  flagons  and  dishes  of  gold  and  enamel  were 
supported  by  griffins  and  satyrs,  dolphins  and  satyrs;  the 
handles  of  golden  bowls  and  cornucopias  laden  with 
fruit  were  adorned  with  genii  or  the  eagles  of  the  house 
of  Este,  while  two  hundred  and  fifty  little  banners, 
painted  by  Ferrara  artists  with  the  Este  and  Gonzaga 
arms,  adorned  the  temples  and  pyramids  of  gilt  and 
coloured  sugar  that  were  a  triumph  of  the  confectioner's 
art. 

"The  streets  were  hung  with  brocades  and  garlands 
of  flowers.  At  the  Porta  Pradella  a  choir  of  white- 
robed  children  welcomed  the  bride  with  songs  and 
recitations.  At  the  Ponte  S.  Jacopo,  on  the  Piazza  in 
front  of  Alberti's  church  of  S.  Andrea,  at  the  gates  of 
the  park,  and  on  the  drawbridge  of  the  Castello, 
pageants  and  musical  entertainments  were  prepared  in 
her  honour.  At  one  point  the  seven  planets  and  nine 
ranks  of  angelic  orders  welcomed  her  coming,  and  a 
64 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

fair  boy  with  angel  wings  recited  an  epithalamium, 
composed  for  the  occasion,  at  the  foot  of  the  grand 
staircase  of  the  Castello  di  Corte.  There  Elizabeth 
Gonzaga  received  the  bride,  and  the  princely  guests  sat 
down  to  a  banquet  in  the  state  rooms,  while  the  im- 
mense crowds  assembled  on  the  piazza  outside  were 
feasted  at  the  public  expense." 

Of  the  palace  at  Mantua  and  the  life  of  the  duchess 
there,  Odom,  in  his  "History  of  Italian  Furniture," 
gives  us  this  illuminating  and  delightful  picture: 

"At  the  court  of  Mantua  the  art  of  the  High  Renais- 
sance found  its  most  sympathetic  and  enthusiastic 
patron  in  Isabella  d'Este,  the  Duchess  of  Mantua. 
Rarefied  by  Renaissance  legend,  materialized  by 
d'Annunzio,  and  called  by  Niccolo'  da  Correggio  the 
first  lady  of  the  world,  Leonardo  and  Titian  painted  her 
portrait,  Mantegna  decorated  her  room,  Aldo  Manuzio 
sent  her  new  editions  of  the  classics  as  soon  as  they  were 
printed,  and  Ariosto  read  her  the  first  draft  of  his 
'Orlando  Furioso.'  Mantua  had  long  been  ranked 
high  among  the  seats  of  culture  and  autocratic  social 
life,  but  with  the  coming  of  Isabella  it  became  not  only 
the  centre  of  the  greatest  taste  and  refinement  of  this 
period,  'the  envy  of  the  civilized  world,'  but  the 
criterion  of  fashion  as  well. 

"Toward  the  end  of  the  century  Isabella  abandoned 
the  mediaeval  fortress,  the  Castello  Vecchio,  after  she  had 
done  much  to  dispel  the  ancient  gloom  by  remodelling 
and  adding  to  its  furnishings  fine  works  of  art.  Besides 
the  furniture  she  ordered  she  collected  rare  tapestries,  pic- 
tures by  the  greatest  masters,  precious  crystals,  antique 
marbles,  enamels,  musical  instruments,  and  manuscripts. 

65 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

"After  the  death  of  Duke  Francesco,  1519,  Giulio 
Romano  was  ordered  to  alter  for  her  a  wing  in  the 
castle,  to  be  arranged  for  living  apartments  in  addition 
to  those  most  perfect  and  famous  interiors  of  the 
Renaissance,  the  'Appartamento  Paradiso.'  These 
were  three  small  jewel-like  rooms,  the  symphonic  work 
of  painter,  woodcarver  and  intarsia  worker  of  the  early 
sixteenth  century.  The  exquisite  wood  carved  ceilings 
are  still  intact,  while  the  music  room  retains  even  more 
of  its  original  beauty.  Its  well-preserved  ceiling  is 
diagonalled  with  carved  bands  with  pendant-like  ros- 
ettes placed  at  the  intersections,  forming  panels  that 
enclose  delicate  foliage  and  emblems  on  a  blue  ground. 
Less  fortunate  is  the  wainscoting,  retaining  only  parts  of 
its  intarsia  executed  by  Antonio  and  Paolo  della  Mola 
above  which  were  once  inserted,  in  exquisite  rectangular 
panels,  masterpieces  by  Mantegna,  Perugino,  and 
Lorenzo  Costa,  treasures  now  hanging  in  the  Italian 
Gallery  of  the  Louvre.  But  of  the  furniture,  tapestries, 
and  other  objets  d'art  of  these  apartments,  not  a  piece 
is  known  to  exist." 

Isabella's  apartment  which  she  occupied  during  the 
greater  part  of  her  married  life  was  in  the  piano  nobile  of 
the  tower  of  the  castle,  close  to  the  Camera  Dipinta  or 
nuptial  chamber.  This  was  decorated  by  Andrea.  A 
staircase  led  from  it  to  the  duke's  apartment  below. 

Piero  Saranzo  relates  how  after  being  conducted 
through  endless  apartments  filled  with  artistic  treasures 
they  were  ushered  into  the  private  suite  of  the  duke. 
Here  they  found  him  "reclining  on  a  couch  by  the 
hearth  of  a  richly  adorned  room  with  his  pet  dwarf  clad 
in  gold  brocade  and  three  greyhounds  lying  at  his 
66 


ABOUT  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  COSTUMES 
SHOW  MEDLEVAL  PAGEANT  SPIRIT  WITH  PERSONAGES  OF  EARLY 
RENAISSANCE  IDEALS. 


O  Q 


LATE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  VENICE.  ATTENTION  IS  DIRECTED 
TO  THE  LUXURIOUS  MATERIALS  AND  THE  PECULIAR  HEADDRESSES. 
THESE  ARE  MORE  EASTERN  IN  FEELING. 


LAST  HALF  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  COSTUMES  SHOW  A  DE- 
CIDED PAGAN  CLASSIC  CONCEPTION  IN  LINE  AND  IN  THE  VERY  IM- 
AGINATIVE ACCENTUATION  INSTEAD  OF  CONCEALMENT  OF  THE  FORM 
OF  THE  BODY. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

feet,  three  pages  stood  by  waving  large  fans  lest  even  a 
hair  should  fall  upon  him;  a  quantity  of  falcons  and 
hawks  in  leash  were  in  the  room,  and  the  walls  were 
hung  with  pictures  of  his  favourite  dogs  and  horses." 
The  beauty  and  extent  of  the  gardens  and  the  magnifi- 
cent view  from  the  loggia  greatly  impressed  the  visitors. 

Under  Austrian  rule  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
these  apartments  were  stripped  of  most  of  their  decora- 
tions, but  one  little  room  of  the  suite  still  retains 
something  of  its  original  appearance.  Here  are  some 
traces  of  gilding  and  ultramarine  on  the  blue  vaulted 
ceiling  and  also  Gonzaga  devices  carved  on  the 
delicately  inlaid  woodwork  of  the  frieze. 

It  is  only  natural  that  one  who  bestowed  so  much 
thought,  time,  and  money  upon  collections  and  the 
decoration  of  her  palace  should  have  a  corresponding 
interest  in  the  costumes  which  would  not  only  express 
the  taste  of  one  of  the  greatest  patrons  of  Renaissance 
art,  but  which  would  at  once  mark  the  wearer  as  fitted 
to  express  the  particular  rank  of  autocratic  social 
leader,  which  she  was;  for  not  only  was  she  supreme  in 
her  own  duchy,  but  the  fame  of  her  taste,  learning,  and 
beauty  was  well  diffused  in  Milan,  Venice,  Urbino, 
and  Florence,  while  even  Rome  and  the  Vatican  had 
occasion  more  than  once  to  feel  her  power.  Some  little 
idea  of  her  extravagance  in  the  particular  of  clothing 
is  given  in  the  discussion  of  her  trousseau  at  the  time  of 
her  marriage,  and  her  collection  of  robes,  jewels,  and 
finely  wrought  materials  is  said  to  have  kept  pace  with 
her  indefatigable  search  for  other  art  treasures. 

On  a  visit  to  Milan  it  is  recorded  that  the  young 
Duchess  was  determined  to  make  a  brave  show  on 

67 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

this  occasion,  and  all  the  merchants  in  Venice  and 
Ferrara  were  required  to  ransack  their  stores  and 
supply  her  with  furs,  brocades,  and  jewels.  Zorzo 
Brognolo,  the  Gonzaga's  trusted  agent  in  Venice,  was 
desired  to  search  all  the  shops  in  Venice  for  eighty  of  the 
very  finest  sables  to  make  a  sbernia  or  mantle.  ''Try 
to  find  one  skin  with  the  head  of  the  animal,"  Isabella 
adds,  "to  make  a  muff,  which  I  can  carry  in  my  hands. 
Never  mind  if  it  costs  as  much  as  ten  ducats;  I  will  give 
the  money  gladly  as  long  as  it  is  really  a  fine  fur.  You 
must  also  buy  eight  yards  of  the  best  crimson  satin 
which  you  can  find  in  Venice  to  line  the  said  sbernia,  and 
for  God's  sake  use  all  your  accustomed  diligence,  for 
nothing,  I  assure  you,  will  give  me  greater  pleasure." 
A  few  days  later  she  entreats  Giacomo  Trotti,  the 
Duke  of  Ferrara's  ambassador  at  Milan,  to  send  her 
two  skins  of  Spanish  cat,  the  best  and  finest  that  are  to 
be  found  in  that  city,  to  trim  this  sumptuous  mantle; 
and  in  January,  1491,  when  she  had  already  started  on 
her  journey,  she  writes  to  Genoa  and  orders  another 
sbernia  of  costly  brocade  to  be  sent  by  express  courier  to 
await  her  arrival  at  Pa  via. 

Her  extravagance  and  her  desire  to  exceed  all  others 
in  the  number  and  quality  of  her  personal  adornments, 
that  amounted  almost  to  a  mania,  is  clearly  and 
amusingly  shown  in  a  letter  written  to  an  agent  of  her 
father  who  was  going  to  France  to  buy  objects  of  art. 

"I  send  you  a  hundred  ducats,"  she  writes,  "and 
wish  you  to  understand  that  you  are  not  to  return  the 
money  if  any  of  it  is  left,  after  buying  the  things  which 
I  want,  but  are  to  spend  it  in  buying  some  gold  chain  or 
anything  else  that  is  new  and  elegant.  And  if  more  is 
68 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

required,  spend  that  too,  for  I  had  rather  be  in  your 
debt  so  long  as  you  bring  me  the  latest  novelties.  But 
these  are  the  kind  of  things  that  I  wish  to  have — en- 
graved amethysts,  rosaries  of  black  amber  and  gold, 
blue  cloth  for  a  camora,  black  cloth  for  a  mantle,  such 
as  shall  be  without  a  rival  in  the  world,  even  if  it  costs 
ten  ducats  a  yard;  as  long  as  it  is  of  real  excellence, 
never  mind!  If  it  is  only  as  good  as  those  which  I  see 
other  people  wear,  I  had  rather  be  without  it." 

The  psychology  here  is  enlightening  even  if  it  is 
intensely  amusing,  perhaps  a  little  unexpected  from  so 
cultivated  a  source,  yet  how  human  and  strangely 
familiar.  She  besought  an  envoy  in  Venice  at  one  time 
to  get  her  immediately  silks,  velvets  of  oriental  make, 
brocades  patterned  all  over  with  leopards,  doves,  and 
eagles,  rare  perfumes,  Murano  glass,  silver,  very  fine 
Rheims  linen  (finer  than  any  sample),  bracelets,  and 
finely  wrought  rings.  These  and  countless  other  art 
novelties  were  sought  after  by  her  emissaries  in  all  the 
known  markets  of  the  world.  Toward  the  latter  part 
of  her  life,  however,  we  find  the  Duchess  thinking  less  of 
clothes  and  more  of  the  other  arts,  while,  as  we  shall 
see,  many  of  the  other  great  ladies  seemed  never  to  lose 
the  intense  longing  for  personal  adornment.  A  similar 
ratio  is  always  found,  it  seems,  in  any  clearly  expressed 
period  of  social  art. 

On  the  feast  of  St.  George  Isabella  paid  a  visit  to  her 
father  at  Ferrara,  and  while  she  was  there  received  an 
urgent  summons  from  her  lord  to  lend  him  some  of  her 
finest  jewels  with  which  to  adorn  his  person  at  the  fetes 
about  to  be  held  in  Milan,  to  celebrate  the  arrival  of  the 
Imperial  Ambassador  and  the  investiture  of  Lodovico 

69 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Sforza  with  the  ducal  crown.  Already,  a  year  before, 
when  the  Duchess  was  at  Urbino,  she  had,  at  Fran- 
cesco's desire,  pledged  many  of  her  jewels  in  order  to 
raise  a  sum  of  money  with  which  to  obtain  his  brother 
Sigismondo's  advancement  to  the  dignity  of  Cardinal. 
"One  of  the  greatest  wishes  that  I  have  in  the  world," 
she  wrote,  "is  to  see  Monsignore  a  Cardinal,  so  I  am 
much  pleased  to  hear  that  this  affair  is  about  to  be  ar- 
ranged. I  send  Alberto  da  Bologna  with  the  keys  of 
my  jewel  boxes,  that  he  may  give  you  whatever  you 
wish,  since  I  would  not  only  give  my  treasure,  but  my 
blood,  for  your  honour  and  for  your  house."  Now, 
like  a  good  wife,  she  sent  her  most  precious  ornaments — 
her  big  diamonds  and  large  rubies,  and  her  collar  of  a 
hundred  links — all  but  her  golden  girdle,  which  had 
been  lately  seen  on  her  person  at  Milan,  and  which  she 
had  now  lent  one  of  her  father's  courtiers  to  wear  at  a 
masque.  All  her  other  jewels,  as  she  gently  reminded 
the  Duke,  were  in  pawn  in  Venice. 

A  further  word  of  description  here  may  help  us  to 
connect  the  humanistic  movement  in  the  church  with 
its  social  interpretation,  and  at  the  same  time  add 
another  interesting  picture  of  luxury  and  extravagance 
in  costumes  and  other  decorative  settings. 

In  Odom's  "History  of  Italian  Furniture"  we  find 
this  comment  on  the  art  of  the  High  Renaissance:  "The 
art  of  this  era,  decidedly  more  social  than  that  of 
the  Early  Renaissance,  contributed  even  more  of  its 
riches  to  the  aggrandizement  of  the  'Magnificent  Ones' 
as  well  as  to  the  strengthening  of  the  'policy  of  culture' 
to  the  papacy.  In  a  former  period  social  expression 
was  under  the  influence  of  the  ecclesiastical,  but  with 
70 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

the  Cinquecento  secular  expression  dominated  and  by 
the  end  of  the  century,  even  in  ecclesiastical  work, 
beauty  of  line,  form,  and  colour  were  considered  suf- 
ficient symbols  of  holiness." 

Rome  was  the  last  of  the  great  Renaissance  centres 
to  develop.  It  reached  the  height  of  its  glory  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  brilliance 
and  luxury  then  prevalent  were  cut  off  and  their  ma- 
terial expression  was  either  disseminated  or  destroyed 
by  the  invasion  of  the  Imperial  Army  of  Germans  and 
Spaniards  in  1527.  The  Sack  of  Rome  may  be  said 
really  to  mark  the  end  of  the  upward  trend  of  the  purely 
Renaissance  idea,  the  decline  and  subsequent  decay  in- 
cident to  a  new  complete  surrender  to  the  senses  dating 
from  this  event. 

It  was  about  this  time  (1502)  that  the  notorious 
Borgia  filled  the  papal  chair  and  that  his  much  dis- 
cussed daughter  Lucrezia,  about  whom  there  have  been 
more  varieties  of  opinion  written  than  of  any  woman  of 
that  century,  married  the  young  duke,  Alfonso  of 
Ferrara. 

The  Borgias  were  of  Spanish  origin,  the  family  dating 
from  the  early  fourteenth  century.  They  were  prom- 
inent in  the  Spanish  invasion  of  Italian  life,  for  Alfonso 
Borgia,  made  a  Cardinal  in  1444,  was  chosen  as  Pope  in 
1455,  assuming  the  name  of  Calixtus  III.  He  con- 
ferred the  purple  upon  Rodrigo  Borgia,  his  nephew,  in 
1456  and  he  in  turn  became  Pope  in  1492,  assuming  the 
name  of  Alexander  VI.  Lucrezia,  born  into  the  most 
turbulent  period  of  political  despotism,  was  twelve 
years  old  when  her  father  was  elected  to  the  papacy. 
The  religion  of  the  time  was  altogether  material,  social 

71 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

immorality  was  universal,  in  short  sensuous  indulgence 
and  ostentatious  magnificence  were  forging  a  chain  with 
which  the  Renaissance  ideal  was  ultimately  strangled, 
and  Rome,  the  most  mature  of  all  the  Italian  cities, 
played  no  small  part  in  its  execution. 

During  the  sway  of  the  Borgias  over  the  papal  court 
and  other  centres  where  the  influence  of  the  papacy 
was  dominant,  hordes  of  Spaniards  flocked  to  Italy, 
not  only  occupying  positions  of  trust  in  the  govern- 
ments but  exercising  power  in  matters  of  religion,  while 
in  commercial  matters  also  they  took  an  active  part. 
This  explains  somewhat  the  distinctly  Spanish  feeling 
in  much  of  the  art  of  Italy  during  the  last  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

Lucrezia  was  born,  so  said  the  astrologer  who  cast  her 
horoscope  at  birth,  to  a  brilliant  and  successful  career 
and  when  her  origin,  birth,  training,  and  associations 
are  considered  it  seems  that  she  has  never  really  been 
quite  fairly  dealt  with. 

Gregorovius  writes  of  Lucrezia  and  her  wedding 
portion:  "The  portion  will  consist  of  three  hundred 
thousand  ducats,  not  counting  the  presents  which  Ma- 
donna will  receive  from  time  to  time.  First  a  hundred 
thousand  ducats  are  to  be  paid  in  money  in  install- 
ments in  Ferrara.  Then  there  will  be  silverware  to 
the  value  of  three  thousand  ducats;  jewels,  fine  linen, 
costly  trappings  for  horses  and  mules,  together  worth 
another  hundred  thousand.  In  her  wardrobe  she  has 
a  trimmed  dress  worth  more  than  fifteen  thousand 
ducats,  and  two  hundred  costly  shifts,  some  of  which 
are  worth  a  hundred  ducats  apiece;  the  sleeves  alone  of 
some  of  them  cost  thirty  ducats  each,  being  trimmed 
72 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

with  gold  fringe."  Another  person  reported  to  the 
Duchess  Isabella  that  Lucrezia  had  one  dress  worth 
twenty  thousand  ducats,  and  a  hat  valued  at  ten 
thousand.  "It  is  said,"  so  the  Mantuan  agent  writes, 
"that  more  gold  has  been  prepared  and  sold  here  in 
Naples  in  six  months  than  has  been  used  heretofore  in 
years.  She  brings  her  husband  another  hundred 
thousand  ducats,  the  value  of  the  castles  (Cento  and 
Pieve),  and  will  also  secure  the  remission  of  Ferrara's 
tribute.  The  number  of  horses  and  persons  the  Pope 
will  place  at  his  daughter's  disposal  will  amount  to  a 
thousand.  There  will  be  two  hundred  carriages— 
among  them  some  of  French  make,  if  there  is  time — and 
with  these  will  come  the  escort  which  is  to  take  her." 

Describing  her  escort  of  five  hundred  nobles  from 
Ferrara,  he  says:  " These  gentlemen,  magnificently 
clad,  and  with  heavy  gold  chains  about  their  necks, 
mounted  on  beautiful  horses,  left  Ferrara  December 
ninth,  with  thirteen  trumpeters  and  eight  fifes  at  their 
head;  and  thus  this  wedding  cavalcade,  led  by  a  worldly 
Cardinal,  rode  noisily  forth  upon  their  journey.  In 
our  time  such  an  aggregation  might  easily  be  mis- 
taken for  a  troop  of  trick  riders.  Nowhere  did  this 
brave  company  of  knights  pay  their  reckoning;  in  the 
domain  of  Ferrara  they  lived  on  the  duke;  in  other 
words,  at  the  expense  of  his  subjects.  In  the  lands  of 
other  lords  they  did  the  same,  and  in  the  territory  of 
the  Church  the  cities  they  visited  were  required  to 
provide  for  them." 

Then  follows  a  description  of  the  reception  of  the 
nobles  in  Rome:  "Leaning  on  the  arm  of  an  elderly 
cavalier  dressed  in  black  velvet,  with  a  golden  chain 

73 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

about  his  neck,  Lucrezia  went  as  far  as  the  entrance 
of  her  palace  to  greet  them.  According  to  the  pre- 
arranged ceremonial  she  did  not  kiss  her  brothers-in- 
law,  but  merely  bowed  to  them,  following  the  French 
custom.  She  wore  a  dress  of  some  white  material 
embroidered  in  gold,  over  which  was  a  garment  of  dark 
brown  velvet  trimmed  with  sable.  The  sleeves  were  of 
white  and  gold  brocade,  tight,  and  barred  in  the  Span- 
ish fashion.  Her  head-dress  was  of  a  green  gauze,  with 
a  fine  gold  band  and  two  rows  of  pearls.  About  her 
neck  was  a  heavy  chain  of  pearls  with  a  ruby  pendant. 
Refreshments  were  served,  and  Lucrezia  distributed 
small  gifts — the  work  of  Roman  jewellers — among  those 
present.  The  princes  departed  highly  pleased  with 
their  reception.  'This  much  I  know,'  wrote  El  Prete, 
'that  the  eyes  of  Cardinal  Ippolito  sparkled,  as  much 
as  to  say,  She  is  an  enchanting  and  exceedingly  gracious 
lady." 

Cardinal  Ippolito  was  instructed  by  his  sister,  Isa- 
bella of  Mantua,  as  indeed  was  a  special  agent  sent 
with  the  party  to  Rome,  to  give  a  detailed  account,  not 
only  of  the  wedding  festivities,  but  of  the  decorations 
and  costumes  worn  by  everybody.  The  Cardinal  as 
well  as  the  special  emissary  wrote  a  description,  said  by 
a  recent  writer  to  have  been  as  complete  an  account  as 
the  best  reporter  from  a  modern  daily  paper  would  have 
written. 

Finally  January  sixth  was  set  as  the  date  for  Lu- 
crezia to  leave  for  Ferrara.  Her  father  was  determined 
that  her  departure  should  be  a  magnificent  spectacle. 
She  was  accompanied  by  the  Cardinal  and  many 
nobles,  men  and  women,  not  to  mention  an  exceedingly 
74 


LAST  HALF  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  COSTUMES,  EARLY 
RENAISSANCE  WITH  CLASSIC  FEELING  IN  LINE  AND  MOVEMENT  LESS 
EMPHASIZED  THAN  IN  THE  LAST  TWO  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

large  number  of  ladies  in  attendance  with  their  ser- 
vants. There  were  two  hundred  cavaliers,  with  musi- 
cians and  buffoons  for  entertainment.  Many  prov- 
inces were  represented  in  her  entourage  and  there  were 
also  Spaniards,  Frenchmen,  and  other  foreigners,  while 
her  personal  retinue  numbered  two  hundred  people. 
A  number  of  vehicles  which  the  Pope  had  bought  and  a 
hundred  and  fifty  mules  carried  the  trousseau.  When 
someone  suggested  an  inventory  the  Pope  remarked, 
" 1  desire  that  the  duchess  shall  do  with  her  property  as 
she  wishes,"  with  which  he  presented  her  with  nine 
hundred  ducats  to  clothe  herself  and  her  servants,  and 
a  beautiful  Sedan  chair,  in  which  the  Duchess  of  Urbino 
was  to  sit  beside  her  when  she  joined  the  procession. 

It  does  not  require  a  much  quickened  imagination 
to  complete  the  picture  of  ostentatious  magnificence, 
inconceivable  under  modern  conditions.  In  contrast 
to  this,  one  has  always  to  keep  in  mind  the  poverty  of 
the  masses  and  the  state  of  semi-comfort  accorded  a 
large  number  of  hangers-on  at  every  court,  as  well  as 
the  lesser  luxury  of  a  small  class  of  nobles  who  com- 
pleted the  households  of  the  "Magnificent  Ones." 

Gregorovius  gives  us  a  thrilling  picture  of  the  passing 
of  the  gorgeous  cavalcade  on  its  way  to  Ferrara.  Don 
Alfonso  came  out  to  Torre  della  Fossa  to  meet  his 
bride,  and  the  procession  started.  "At  its  head  were 
seventy-five  mounted  archers  in  the  livery  of  the  house 
of  Este — white  and  red — who  were  accompanied  by 
eighty  trumpeters  and  a  number  of  fifes.  Then  came 
the  nobility  of  Ferrara  without  regard  to  rank,  followed 
by  the  members  of  the  courts  of  the  Marchioness  of 
Mantua,  who  remained  behind  in  the  palace,  and  of 

75 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

the  Duchess  of  Urbino.  Behind  them  rode  Alfonso, 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Annibale  Bentivoglio,  at  his 
side,  and  accompanied  by  eight  pages,  he  was  dressed 
in  red  velvet  in  the  French  fashion,  and  on  his  head  he 
wore  a  black  velvet  biretta,  upon  which  was  an  orna- 
ment of  wrought  gold.  He  wore  small  red  boots  and 
French  gaiters  of  black  velvet.  His  bay  horse  was  ca- 
parisoned in  crimson  and  gold. 

"On  the  way  to  Ferrara  Don  Alfonso  did  not  ride 
by  the  side  of  his  consort  as  this  would  have  been  con- 
trary to  the  etiquette  of  the  day.  The  bridegroom  led 
the  procession,  near  the  middle  of  which  was  the  bride, 
while  the  father-in-law  came  last.  This  arrangement 
was  intended  to  indicate  that  Lucrezia  was  the  chief 
personage  in  the  parade.  Just  behind  Alfonso  came 
her  escort,  pages  and  court  officials,  among  whom  were 
several  Spanish  cavaliers;  then  five  bishops,  followed 
by  the  ambassadors  according  to  rank;  the  four  deputies 
of  Rome,  mounted  upon  beautiful  horses  and  wearing 
long  brocade  cloaks  and  black  birettas  coming  next. 
These  were  followed  by  six  tambourines  and  two  of 
Lucrezia's  favourite  clowns. 

"Then  came  the  bride  herself,  radiantly  beautiful 
and  happy,  mounted  upon  a  white  jennet  with  scarlet 
trappings,  and  followed  by  her  master  of  horse.  Lucre- 
zia was  dressed  in  a  loose-sleeved  camera  of  black  velvet 
with  a  narrow  gold  border,  and  a  cape  of  gold  bro- 
cade trimmed  with  ermine.  On  her  head  she  wore  a 
sort  of  net  glittering  with  diamonds  and  gold — a 
present  from  her  father-in-law.  She  did  not  wear  a 
diadem.  About  her  neck  she  had  a  chain  of  pearls 
and  rubies  which  had  once  belonged  to  the  duchess  of 
76 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

Ferrara — as  Isabella  noticed  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 
Her  beautiful  hair  fell  down  unconfined  on  her  shoul- 
ders. She  rode  beneath  a  purple  baldachin,  which  the 
doctors  of  Ferrara — that  is,  the  members  of  the  facul- 
ties of  law,  medicine,  and  mathematics — supported  in 
turn. 

"Behind  Lucrezia  came  the  duke,  in  black  velvet,  on  a 
dark  horse  with  trappings  of  the  same  material.  On 
his  right  was  the  Duchess  of  Urbino  clad  in  a  dark  vel- 
vet gown. 

"Behind  them  came  fourteen  floats  upon  which  were 
seated  a  number  of  the  noble  women  of  Ferrara,  beau- 
tifully dressed,  including  the  twelve  young  ladies  who 
had  been  allotted  to  Lucrezia  as  maids  of  honour.  Then 
followed  two  white  mules  and  two  white  horses  decked 
with  velvet  and  silk  and  costly  gold  trappings.  Eighty- 
six  mules  accompanied  the  train  bearing  the  bride's 
trousseau  and  jewels. 

"Lucrezia  was  received  at  the  castle  by  Isabella 
Gonzaga  and  all  the  prominent  ladies  of  the  realm. 
It  was  night  now  and  the  palace  was  illuminated.  The 
sound  of  music  was  heard.  The  reception  halls  were 
opened,  and  the  bride  was  formally  introduced  to  the 
court  officials,  the  ambassadors,  the  princes  and  prin- 
cesses of  the  realm,  invited  guests,  the  courtiers  and 
church  dignitaries." 

The  wedding  festivities  lasted  six  days  and  it  is  a 
description  of  these  that  perhaps  gives  one  a  most 
complete  picture  of  the  social  life  of  the  times. 

On  the  occasion  of  Beatrice's  visit  to  Venice  in  1493 
with  her  mother,  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  and  "Ma- 
donna Anna  Sforza,"  a  member  of  the  family  in  writing 

77 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

to  Isabella,  Duchess  of  Mantua,  says:  "I  will  not  at- 
tempt to  describe  the  gowns  and  ornaments  worn  by 
these  duchesses  and  Madonna  Anna,  this  being  quite 
out  of  my  line,  and  will  only  tell  you  that  all  three  of 
them  appeared  resplendent  with  the  most  precious 
jewels."  Fortunately  this  omission  was  supplied  by 
one  of  Beatrice's  secretaries,  Niccolo'  de'  Negri,  who, 
in  a  letter  to  Lodovico,  informed  him  that  the  duchess 
on  the  day  of  her  arrival  at  Venice  "wore  her  gold 
brocade,  embroidered  with  crimson  doves,  with  a  jew- 
elled feather  in  her  cap,  and  a  rope  of  pearls  and  dia- 
monds round  her  neck,  to  which  the  priceless  ruby 
known  as  El  Spigo  was  attached  as  pendant." 

She  herself  writes  in  a  letter  to  her  husband  concern- 
ing the  same  visit,  as  follows :  "  When  we  came  out  of  the 
Treasury,  we  went  on  the  Piazza  of  St.  Mark,  among  the 
shops  of  the  Ascensiontide  fair  which  is  still  going  on, 
and  found  such  a  magnificent  show  of  beautiful  Vene- 
tian glass,  that  we  were  fairly  bewildered,  and  were 
obliged  to  remain  there  for  a  long  time.  And  as  we 
walked  along  from  shop  to  shop,  everyone  turned  to 
look  at  the  jewels  which  I  wore  in  the  velvet  cap  on  my 
head,  and  on  the  vest  embroidered  with  the  towers  of 
the  Port  of  Genoa,  and  especially  at  the  large  diamond 
which  I  wore  at  my  breast.  And  I  heard  people  saying 
one  to  the  other — 'That  is  the  wife  of  Signor  Lodovico. 
Look  what  fine  jewels  she  wears !  What  splendid  rubies 
and  diamonds  she  has." 

On  October  11, 1493,  the  Duchess  Leonora,  mother  of 
Beatrice,  died  at  Ferrara,  and  in  an  old  letter  is  found 
this  description  of  the  latter's  mourning  costume:  "Her 
Excellency  is  clad  in  a  robe  of  black  cloth,  with  sleeves  of 
78 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

the  same,  and  a  very  long  mantle,  also  of  black  cloth, 
and  wears  on  her  head  a  black  silk  cap  with  muslin  folds, 
which  are  neither  gray  nor  yellow,  but  pure  white. 
She  hardly  ever  leaves  her  room,  and  Signor  Lodovico 
spends  most  of  his  time  with  her,  and  they  two  and 
Messer  Galeaz  have  their  meals  alone  in  their  rooms." 

A  fortnight  later  in  the  same  autumn  Beatrice  was 
called  upon  to  lay  aside  this  style  of  dress  and  assist 
at  a  most  notable  function,  the  marriage  of  Maximil- 
ian, the  new  Emperor  of  Germany,  to  Bianca  Sforza, 
a  niece  of  Lodovico.  In  preparation  for  this  she  wrote 
to  her  sister  Isabella,  asking  her  permission  to  use  one 
of  her  designs  for  the  wedding  toilet.  She  says:  "I 
cannot  remember  if  your  Highness  has  yet  carried  out 
the  idea  of  that  pattern  of  linked  tracery  which  Messer 
Niccolo  da  Correggio  suggested  to  you  when  we  were 
last  together.  If  you  have  not  yet  ordered  the  execu- 
tion of  this  design,  I  am  thinking  of  having  his  inven- 
tion carried  out  in  massive  gold,  on  a  'camora'  of  purple 
velvet,  to  wear  on  the  day  of  Madonna  Bianca's  wed- 
ding, since  my  husband  desires  the  whole  court  to  lay 
aside  mourning  for  that  one  day  and  to  appear  in  col- 
ours. This  being  the  case,  I  cannot  refrain  from  wear- 
ing colours  on  this  occasion,  although  the  heavy  loss 
we  have  had  in  our  dear  mother's  death  has  left  me  with 
little  care  for  new  inventions.  But  since  this  is  neces- 
sary, I  have  decided  to  make  a  trial  of  this  pattern,  if 
your  Highness  has  not  yet  made  use  of  it,  and  send  the 
present  courier,  begging  you  not  to  detain  him,  but  to 
let  me  know  at  once  if  you  have  yet  tried  this  new  de- 
sign or  not." 

In  another  letter  to  Isabella  she  writes  of  the  wedding: 

79 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

"On  the  last  day  of  the  past  month  the  nuptials  took 
place,  and  in  preparation  for  this  solemnity,  a  portico 
was  erected  in  front  of  the  Chiesa  Maggiore  of  the  city 
of  Milan,  with  pillars  on  either  side,  supporting  a  purple 
canopy,  embroidered  with  doves.  Within  the  church, 
the  aisles  were  hung  with  brocade  as  far  as  the  choir, 
in  front  of  which  a  triumphal  arch  had  been  erected  on 
massive  pillars.  This  was  entirely  painted,  and  bore 
in  the  centre  an  effigy  of  Duke  Francesco  on  horseback, 
in  his  ducal  robes,  with  the  ducal  arms  and  those  of  the 
King  of  the  Romans  above.  This  triumphal  arch  was 
square  in  shape,  and  ornamented  with  pictures  of 
antique  feasts,  and  the  imperial  insignia  and  the  arms  of 
my  husband  were  placed  on  the  side  toward  the  high 
altar.  Beyond  this  arch  were  steps  that  led  up  to  a 
great  tribunal  erected  in  front  of  the  high  altar.  On  the 
left  was  a  small  tribunal  from  which  the  Gospel  was 
sung,  hung  with  gold  brocade;  on  the  right  was  another 
adorned  with  silver  brocade;  and  behind  these  tribunals 
were  seats  ranged  in  order  and  covered  with  draperies, 
for  the  councillors  and  other  feudatories  and  gentlemen. 
In  the  extreme  corners  of  the  choir  were  two  raised 
stages,  one  for  the  singers,  the  other  for  the  trumpeters, 
and  in  the  space  between  were  seated  the  doctors  of 
law  and  medicine,  with  their  birettas  and  capes  lined 
with  fur,  each  according  to  his  rank.  The  altar  itself 
was  sumptuously  adorned  with  all  the  silver  vases  and 
images  of  saints  which  you  saw  in  the  Rochetta  when 
you  were  at  Milan. 

"The  street  leading  to  the  Duomo  was  beautifully 
decorated.     There  were  columns  wreathed  with  ivy 

all  the  way  from  the  bastions  of  the  Castello  to  the  end 
80 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

of  the  piazza,  and  between  the  columns  were  festoons 
of  boughs  bearing  antique  devices,  and  round  shields 
with  the  imperial  arms  and  those  of  our  house,  and 
Sforzesca  draperies  were  hung  above  the  street  all  the 
way  from  the  Castello  to  the  Duomo.  Many  of  the  doors 
had  their  pillars  wreathed  with  ivy  and  green  boughs,  so 
that  the  season  seemed  to  be  May-time  rather  than 
November.  On  both  sides  of  the  street,  the  walls  were 
hung  with  satin,  excepting  those  houses  which  have 
lately  been  adorned  with  frescoes,  and  which  are  no 
less  beautiful  than  tapestries. 

"The  queen  wore  a  vest  of  crimson  satin,  embroidered 
in  gold  thread  and  covered  with  jewels.  Her  train  was 
immensely  long,  and  the  sleeves  were  made  to  look  like 
two  wings,  which  had  a  very  fine  appearance.  On  her 
head  she  wore  an  ornament  of  magnificent  diamonds 
and  pearls.  And  to  add  to  the  solemnity  of  the  occa- 
sion, Messer  Galeazzo  Pallavicino  carried  the  train, 
and  Count  Conrado  de'  Lando  and  Count  Manfredo 
Torniello  each  of  them  supported  one  of  the  sleeves. 
Before  the  bride  walked  all  the  chamberlains,  courtiers, 
officials,  gentlemen,  feudatories,  and  last  of  all  the  coun- 
cillors. The  queen  seated  herself  in  the  centre  of  the 
car,  the  Duchess  Isabella  being  on  her  right,  and  myself 
on  her  left.  The  said  duchess  wore  a  'camora '  of  crim- 
son satin,  with  gold  cords  looped  over  it,  as  in  my  gray 
cloth  'camora'  which  you  must  remember;  and  I  wore 
my  purple  velvet  'camora',  with  the  purple  pattern  of 
the  links  worked  in  massive  gold  and  green  and  white 
enamel,  about  six  inches  deep  on  the  front  and  back  of 
my  bodice,  and  on  both  sleeves.  The  'camora'  was 
lined  with  cloth  of  gold,  and  with  it  I  wore  a  girdle  of 

81 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

St.  Francis  made  of  large  pearls,  with  a  beautiful  clear- 
cut  ruby  for  clasp." 

She  goes  on  to  describe  in  great  detail  the  grand  per- 
sonages participating  and  the  twelve  chariots  of  gold 
and  crimson  velvet,  filled  with  noble  women  clad  in  the 
most  gorgeous  and  sumptuous  manner,  including  the 
ladies  of  the  queen  in  her  livery  with  tan  coloured 
"camoras  "and  mantles  of  bright  green  satin.  Then  fol- 
lows an  account  of  the  marriage  ceremony  in  detail, 
describing  the  magnificent  vestments  of  the  clergy,  the 
music,  the  blare  of  trumpets,  the  peal  of  the  organ,  the 
ringing  of  bells;  and  after  the  ceremony  everyone  walked 
to  the  gates  of  the  Duomo  with  the  great  dignitaries 
carrying  the  train  and  sleeves  of  the  queen. 

She  rode  under  a  baldacchino  of  white  damask  and 
gold,  lined  throughout  with  ermine.  After  this  a  mar- 
vellously apparelled  procession  of  clergy,  foreign  diplo- 
mats, Milanese  gentry,  courtiers,  ladies  of  the  queen 
followed  by  their  ladies  and  others,  all  making  the  most 
splendid  show.  One  writer  has  it  that  "Nothing  but 
silver  brocade  could  be  seen  and  the  worst  dressed  per- 
son there  was,  wore  crimson  velvet,  and  that  all  this 
with  the  great  abundance  of  lace  and  gold  chains  worn 
by  the  knights,  made  a  magnificent  appearance." 

The  trousseau  of  the  bride  was  valued  at  100,000  du- 
cats. It  consisted  of  the  most  elaborate  robes,  expen- 
sive jewels,  gold  and  silver  plate,  altar  fittings,  bed 
hangings,  mirrors,  perfumes,  linens,  carpets,  house 
trappings,  and  other  personal  and  house  adornments. 

All  this  seems  impossible  to  conceive  as  representing 
one  only  of  the  several  autocratic  court  centres  of  north- 
ern Italy  about  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America  by 
82 


THIRD  QUARTER  OF  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  COSTUMES  ARE  EX- 
CELLENT EXAMPLES  OF  THE  REFINEMENT  AND  SIMPLICITY  OF  THE 
RENAISSANCE,  WHERE  NEITHER  CLASSIC  NOR  MEDLEVAL  INFLU- 
ENCE IS  VERY  APPARENT. 


THIRD  QUARTER  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  FURTHER  EX- 
AMPLES OF  THE  CHARM  OF  UNAFFECTED  HUMANISM  BEFORE  THE 
DESIRE  FOR  SHOW  DISPLACED  TASTE.  " 


LATE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY,  SHOWING  EARLY  STAGES  OF  THE  RH- 
NAISSANCE  IN  VENICE,  WHICH  WAS  A  HALF  CENTURY  LATER  THAN 
FLORENCE  IN  ITS  EXPRESSION.  OBSERVE  EMPIRE  SUGGESTION 
IN  CUT. 


LATE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  INTERESTING  MALE  COSTUMES  OF 
THIS  PERIOD  IN  VENICE.  PLEASING  DETAILS  MAY  BE  ADAPTED  TO 
DRESS  FOR  MODERN  WOMEN. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

Columbus,  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Spain,  the 
death  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  at  Florence  and  the 
accession  of  Louis  XII  of  France.  More  than  this  we 
are  assured  that  every  article  designed  and  used  in  this 
period  of  the  Renaissance  was  not  only  wonderful  in 
workmanship  but  rich  and  beautiful  in  design. 

The  court  of  the  Duke  of  Urbino  was  perhaps  the 
most  aristocratic  of  all  the  Renaissance  centres.  It 
certainly  represented  the  most  perfect  balance  of  art 
and  learning,  with  a  cultivation  of  the  most  ideal  social 
manners  and  customs  of  the  time.  Isabella,  writing 
to  her  husband  of  a  visit  there,  says:  "This  palace  is 
far  finer  than  I  ever  expected.  Besides  the  natural 
beauty  of  the  place,  it  is  very  richly  furnished  with 
tapestries,  hangings,  and  silver  plate;  and  I  must  tell 
you  that  in  all  the  different  rooms  which  I  have  occu- 
pied in  this  Duke's  different  homes,  the  hangings  have 
never  been  moved  from  one  place  to  another,  and 
from  the  first  moment  when  I  arrived  at  Gubbio  until 
now,  I  have  been  entertained  more  and  more  sumptu- 
ously every  day;  indeed  I  could  not  have  been  more 
highly  honoured  if  I  had  been  a  bride!  I  have  re- 
peatedly begged  my  hosts  to  reduce  these  expenses 
and  treat  me  in  a  more  familiar  way  but  they  will  not 
listen  to  this.  This  is,  no  doubt,  the  doing  of  the  Duke, 
who  is  the  most  generous  of  men.  He  holds  a  fine  court 
now,  and  lives  in  royal  splendour,  and  governs  the 
state  with  great  wisdom  and  humanity,  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  his  subjects." 

Toward  the  close  of  the  High  Renaissance  (1528) 
Isabella  went  to  her  old  home  at  Ferrara  to  assist  in 
the  triumphant  entry  of  her  nephew  Ercole  and  his 

83 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

bride,  the  Princess  Renee,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
Louis  XII,  on  their  return  from  France  after  their 
marriage.  The  festivities  at  Modena  included  a  fort- 
night of  parties,  pageants,  balls,  and  hunting  fetes, 
after  which  the  royal  pair  went  to  their  summer  palace, 
Belvedere,  the  description  of  which  gives  an  idea  of  the 
summer  palaces  of  the  ducal  families  and  the  social 
results  of  humanism  at  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  This,  of  course,  is  but  one  of  sev- 
eral gorgeous  palaces  belonging  to  one  of  the  many 
dukes  of  the  small  north  Italian  states,  each  of  which 
was  of  sufficient  importance  to  maintain  its  own  ac- 
credited ambassadors  to  the  great  powers  such  as  Spain, 
France,  and  England. 

Bordoni  wrote  for  Isabella:  "This  wonderful  summer 
palace  with  its  halls  and  chapels  decorated  by  Dossi, 
its  stately  terraces  and  stairs  leading  down  to  the  river, 
and  delicious  gardens  planted  with  orange  groves  and 
box  hedges,  and  adorned  with  marble  loggias  and 
fountains."  .  Here  the  bridal  pair  spent  a  night  before 
actually  entering  the  city  of  Ferrara. 

"The  streets  were  hung  with  red,  green,  and  white 
draperies;  and  a  hundred  pages  in  black  satin  livery, 
with  rose-coloured  caps  and  stockings,  preceded  by  the 
Spanish  court  jester,  Diego,  riding  on  a  dromedary, 
led  the  way.  The  bride  followed,  borne  in  a  crimson 
litter  under  a  golden  baldacchino,  and  attended  by 
Madame  de  Soudise  on  horseback,  and  fourteen  French 
ladies  in  a  chariot."  The  plague  had  lately  ravaged 
Ferrara,  and  the  chronicler's  description  of  the  misery 
of  its  inhabitants  forms  a  melancholy  contrast  to  the 
splendour  of  the  bridal  procession.  .  .  . 
84 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

"Here  Marchesa  Isabella  was  awaiting  the  bride  at 
the  foot  of  the  grand  marble  staircase  of  the  Este  Pal- 
ace, and  led  her  by  the  hand  into  the  Sala  Grande,  which 
was  hung  with  priceless  gold  and  silver  tapestries.  Here 
the  ambassadors  presented  her  with  gifts  of  brocades 
and  velvets  and  damasks,  and  the  chief  citizens  brought 
oxen  and  calves,  cheese,  and  capons  for  her  acceptance. 
Renee  wore  her  wedding  robe  of  gold  brocade  with  a 
necklace  of  enormous  pearls  and  a  gold  crown  on  her 
head." 

Venice  should  contribute,  and  does,  a  characteristic 
note  in  the  psychology  of  costume  as  unique  and  allur- 
ing as  the  enchanting  island  city  itself.  Apart  from  the 
real  world,  linked  with  the  Orient,  haughty,  dominating, 
and  enticing,  she  was  always  a  law  unto  herself.  Mol- 
menti  tells  us  that  by  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury the  love  of  sumptuous  dress  stimulated  a  vigorous 
commerce  between  Venice  and  all  the  rest  of  the  known 
world.  He  mentions  strange  stuffs  from  Persia,  Dam- 
ascus, and  Ormutz;  webs  of  silk  from  Florence,  Milan, 
and  the  south;  fine  linens  from  France,  rich  and  costly 
velvets  from  Armenia,  camelotto  from  Arabia,  and 
coarser*  stuffs  for  the  common  people  from  Slavonia 
and  Servia.  There  were  furs,  too,  from  Russia  and  the 
north;  lambskin,  fox,  lynx,  sable,  marten,  vair,  and  er- 
mine; all  of  which  were  made  up  into  robes,  collars,  and 
lapels.  There  were  also  gems  and  precious  stones, 
strange  and  costly,  from  the  East  and  from  neighbouring 
states. 

Buttons  are  described  as  very  plentiful  and  made  of 
gold,  silver,  enamel,  amber,  crystals,  and  pearls;  gold 
and  jewelled  clasps  also  of  marvellous  workmanship  are 

85 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

repeatedly  mentioned,  as  are  countless  belts  made 
of  filagree  of  silver  and  gold.  The  neck  was  adorned 
with  strings  of  pearls  and  heavy  chains  made  in  East- 
ern fashion.  Gloves  of  leather,  chamois,  or  silk  were 
universally  worn  by  the  nobles,  and  foot-gear  is  de- 
scribed in  many  shapes,  colours,  and  materials:  cloth- 
of-gold  with  red  embroidery,  silk  or  leather,  for  slippers, 
and  sometimes  velvet  ornamented  with  jewels;  and 
there  were  sandals  for  the  common  people  made  of  cork 
or  wood. 

We  read  of  one  lady  of  quality  in  Venice  about  1486 
who  owned  robes  of  crimson  velvet  embroidered  with 
pearls  and  sapphires,  also  a  green  figured  velvet  mantle 
lined  with  ermine,  bodices  of  richest  silk  and  finest 
linen  embroidered  in  gorgeous  oriental  fashion,  with 
separate  sleeves  for  each  of  her  robes;  a  petticoat  of 
exquisite  Alexandrian  coloured  satin  and  green  Floren- 
tine brocade,  scarlet  waist  and  belts  fringed  with  rare 
gems  in  many  colours;  belts,  too,  of  damascened  silver 
lined  with  green;  cloth  caps  set  off  with  silver  and  gold 
scales,  red  shoes,  coloured  hose  to  be  worn  with  slippers 
of  peacock  blue  satin  worked  with  gold  embroidery 
and  jewels;  different  gems  for  each  robe,  to  be  worn  on 
her  head,  hands,  and  about  her  neck. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  how  the  range  of  colour  (gen- 
erally primitive)  in  intensity  used  by  the  Venetians 
seems  to  agree  with  the  vari-hued  intensities  of  the  sky, 
water,  and  general  surroundings  of  the  city  itself. 
This  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  natural  desire  for  colour 
stimulent  inherent  in  the  Venetians  because  of  their 
environment,  though  it  may  also  be  attributed  to  the 
feeling  that  the  individual  expressing  an  idea  must  out- 
86 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

do  his  surroundings  in  colour  splendour,  or  be  passed  by 
unnoticed.  It  may  then  be  assumed  to  be  the  result 
of  an  over-stimulated  colour  appetite,  encouraged  by 
the  vanity  of  self  exposition. 

Molmenti  declares,  however,  that  even  in  this  period 
the  Venetians  cared  only  for  the  outward  appearance  of 
luxury,  and  he  scathingly  denounces  them  for  their 
lack  of  cleanliness  and  inattention  to  their  personal 
linen. 

In  the  last  quarter  of  the  century,  about  1476,  the 
most  stringent  sumptuary  laws  were  passed  regulating 
the  cost  of  robes,  the  kinds  of  buttons  and  belts,  length  of 
trains,  value  of  jewels,  amount  and  kinds  of  furs.  They 
even  limited  the  cost  of  foods,  and  bed-hangings,  in  a 
frantic  attempt  to  curb  the  growing  tendency  to  "ruin- 
ous extravagance."  The  Doge  and  his  family  only 
were  exempt,  but  as  always  happens,  ways  and  means 
were  found  to  evade  the  law,  and  one  writer  declares 
that  "the  sumptuous  show  went  on"  as  if  nothing  had 
been  done  to  stay  it;  yet  how  perfectly  is  even  this  pic- 
ture of  wealth  and  sumptuousness  in  accord  with  the 
feeling  and  appearance  of  this  wonder-city  and  its 
surroundings. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
sumptuary  laws  being  relaxed,  commerce  having  taken 
a  fresh  start,  wealth  was  greatly  increased,  luxury  and 
the  love  of  amusement  being  still  more  rampant. 
Molmenti  has  this  to  say  of  the  gorgeous  spectacle 
created  by  the  costumes  of  the  Venetian  aristocracy: 
"Clothed  in  the  splendour  of  these  gorgeous  stuffs  and 
wearing  such  exquisite  jewellery,  the  great  ladies  of  Venice 
appeared  with  the  majesty  and  grace  of  so  many  queens 

87 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

.  .  .  By  the  light  of  the  candles  in  the  palace  halls, 
by  the  light  of  the  sun  on  the  promenade  at  San  Marco 
or  Santo  Stefano,  these  golden  ornaments,  these  gems, 
the  yellow  taffetas,  the  velvets  of  crimson,  green,  pale 
blue,  the  silks  of  cardinal  red,  'all'  alessandrina,'  the 
damasks  figured  in  gold  or  silver,  turquoise  blue,  olive- 
green,  carnation-rose,  the  murrey-coloured  brocade 
with  gold  and  crimson  patterns,  the  silvery  camlets 
with  purple  stripes,  the  watered  silks  shot  with  green 
and  purple,  the  pure  white,  or  lapis  lazuli  or  pomegran- 
ate dyes  of  the  cloth,  furnished  a  pageant  of  colour  such 
as  Venice  alone  could  display. 

"The  very  personification  of  this  feminine  sumptu- 
ousness  was,  of  course,  the  Dogaressa  herself;  she  had 
her  place  in  the  great  public  ceremonies,  where  she  ap- 
peared in  the  Piazza  surrounded  by  her  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen-in- waiting;  her  robes  were  of  gold  brocade 
lined  with  ermine,  her  train  was  of  enormous  length, 
and  she  wore  a  ducal  bonnet  of  gold  studded  with  gems, 
from  which  a  light  veil  of  silk  fell  over  her  shoulders; 
her  bosom  was  ablaze  with  diamonds  and  pearls." 
^  About  this  time  earrings  were  invented  and  for  kinds 
and  style,  a  writer  tells  us  no  object  of  feminine  adorn- 
ment ever  was  so  widely  employed.  A  complete  rev- 
olution in  dress  was  produced  by  the  invention  of  lace, 
which  has  been  called  "the  most  aristocratic  of  per- 
sonal adornment."  This  at  once  assumed  its  place 
as  a  graceful  accessory  to  garments,  even  to  gloves, 
shoes,  dressing-gowns,  chemises,  petticoats,  hose,  hand- 
kerchiefs, and  other  articles  of  underclothing.  Hand- 
kerchiefs made  of  finest  linen  were  striped  with  gold 
thread  and  fringed  with  lace;  silk  gloves  of  various  col- 
88 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

ours  were  embroidered  with  gold  thread  and  often  with 
gems  and  precious  stones.  Finally  gloves  wholly  made 
of  lace  appeared,  and  later  the  buttons  of  shoes  were 
made  of  the  same  material.  Ruffs  were  trimmed  with 
rosettes  of  pearls,  clocks  embroidered  with  golden 
bosses,  fastenings  for  robes  and  bodices  were  studded 
with  gems  and  the  mountings  of  fans  were  gilded  and  set 
with  jewels. 

Methods  of  arranging  the  hair  were  constantly  under- 
going change.  In  the  Cinquecento  fashion  required 
that  the  forehead  should  be  left  bare  and  an  informant 
observes:  "The  hair  was  for  the  most  part  false  at  that, 
bought  from  the  country  folks."  It  was  combed  in 
various  ways,  curled,  plaited,  dressed  like  a  crescent 
moon  with  its  horns  turned  up,  or  twisted  into  the 
form  of  a  pyramid.  In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century  a  towering  tupe  came  into  vogue.  Great 
pains  were  taken  to  achieve  the  blond  tygejaxuljill  • 
sorts  of  hair  bleaches  were  invented  for  that  purpose. 

""Yariety  of  fashion  in  dressing  the  hair  brought  in 
also  a  great  variety  of  head-dresses.  There  were 
caps  of  lace,  coifs  with  two  lace  lapels  hanging  to  the 
shoulders,  set  with  pearls,  and  gemmed  coifs  of  gold  and 
silver  thread;  hoods  stiffened  with  wire,  frontlets  for  the 
forehead  embroidered  with  pearls  in  pear  form  and 
tiaras  of  gold  and  precious  stones. 

Men's  costumes  on  the  other  hand  were  simpler,  less 
subject  to  changes  of  fashion,  retaining  something  of 
their  earlier  serious  and  dignified  quality.  They  were, 
however,  made  of  the  richest  stuffs,  and  presented,  even 
when  worn  by  the  middle  classes,  a  magnificent  appear- 
ance. 

89 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

When  we  remember  all  the  wealth  of  art  expressed 
in  the  High  Renaissance,  its  majesty  of  conception,  its 
richness  in  expression  and  the  perfection  of  its  execution, 
and  when  we  consider  also  the  mighty  ideals  that  gave 
this  expression  birth,  we  welcome  the  thought  that  the 
world  was  much  the  same  then  as  it  is  now,  only  differ- 
ing somewhat  in  the  proportion  of  its  active  elements. 
Authentic  documents  tell  us  that  during  the  last  two 
decades  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  first  decade  of 
the  sixteenth,  the  women  of  Italy  paid  more  attention  to 
v  fashion  than  any  others  in  Europe,  partly  because  of 
their  wealth  and  love  of  display,  and  partly  because 
they  believed  each  new  fashion  made  them  more  attrac- 
tive than  any  other  had.  One  writer  has  it:  "The 
people  was  and  is  vain,  and  even  some  serious  men 
among  it  actually  looked  on  a  handsome  and  becoming 
costume  as  an  element  in  the  perfection  of  an  in- 
dividual." 

In  Florence  it  is  said,  however,  that  well  into  the 
sixteenth  Century  the  most  cultured  women  created 
their  own  fashions  to  suit  their  particular  talents;  and 
we  might  add  that  these  styles  probably  suited  as  well 
their  own  conceptions  of  their  appearance.  This  double 
ideal  in  regard  to  dress  surely  belongs  to  cultured  people 
only.  A  little  later  we  find  an  author  bewailing  the 
tendency  to  destroy  art  and  class  distinction,  saying, 
"There  is  no  longer  any  difference  in  the  appearance  of 
the  wives  of  the  nobles  and  the  burghers,"  a  condition 
akin  to  what  most  of  us  are  beholding  in  these  opening 
decades  of  the  twentieth  century.  In  Venice  one  wo- 
man, a  baker's  wife,  is  berated  for  wearing  a  gold  em- 
broidered dress  entirely  fit  for  a  duchess.  Just  how 
90 


END  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  TUSCAN  LADY  OF  THE  HIGH 
RENAISSANCE.  NOTICE  PARTICULARLY  THE  METHOD  OF  DRESS- 
ING THE  HAIR  AND  THE  MATERIALS  OF  THE  DRESS. 


LAST    HALF    OF    THE    FIFTEENTH    CENTURY.       FLORENTINE    RENAIS- 
SANCE LADY   SIMPLY  AND   DECORATIVELY   DRESSED. 


END  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  MADONNA,  SHOWING  HOW  IN 
CONCEPTION,  EXPRESSION,  AND  COSTUME  THE  HUMANISTIC  IDEA 
HAS  SUPPLANTED  THE  SPIRITUAL. 


LATTER  PART  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  RENAISSANCE  LADY 
RICHLY  DRESSED.  PARTICULAR  ATTENTION  IS  CALLED  TO  THE  KIND 
AND  QUALITY  OF  THE  JEWELS  WORN,  ALSO  TO  THE  ARRANGEMENT 
OF  THE  HAIR  AND  TO  THE  DRESS  MATERIALS. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

much  like  a  duchess  she  actually  was,  or  looked,  when 
thus  clothed,  we  are  not  told.  An  active  imagination 
and  present  data  may  help  us,  however.  In  another 
document  the  writer  bewails  the  senseless  and  ludicrous 
idolatry  of  whatever  comes  from  France,  though  the 
fashions  which  were  received  from  the  French  were  said 
to  have  been  seen  first  in  Italy. 

In  describing  women  Burckhardt,  in  his  "Civilization 
of  the  Renaissance,"  remarks:  "We  may  note  in  par- 
ticular the  efforts  of  the  women  to  alter  their  appearance 
by  all  the  means  which  the  toilet  could  afford.  In  no 
country  of  Europe  since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire 
was  so  much  trouble  taken  to  modify  the  face,  colour  of 
the  skin,  and  the  growth  of  the  hair,  as  in  Italy  at  this 
time.  All  tended  to  the  formation  of  a  conventional 
type,  at  the  cost  of  the  most  striking  and  transparent 
deceptions. 

"  No  sort  of  ornament  was  more  in  use  than  false  hair, 
often  made  of  white  or  yellow  silk.  The  law  de- 
nounced and  forbade  it  in  vain.  .  .  . 

"The  ideal  colour  sought  for  both  in  natural  and  arti- 
ficial hair,  was  blond.  And  as  the  sun  was  supposed 
to  have  the  power  of  making  the  hair  of  this  colour, 
many  ladies  would  pass  their  whole  time  in  the  open  air 
on  sunshiny  days.  Dyes  and  other  mixtures  were  also 
freely  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Besides  all  these  we 
meet  with  an  endless  list  of  beautifying  waters,  plasters, 
and  paints  for  every  single  part  of  the  face — even  for 
the  teeth  and  eyelids — of  which  in  our  day  we  can  form 
no  conception." 

Against  this  extravagance  and  "ungodly  exploita- 
tion of  themselves"  the  great  church  reformers  hurled 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

their  anathemas  and  condemnations,  and  undoubtedly 
the  uplift  societies  of  their  time  gave  them  able  as- 
sistance. "O  women,  by  the  unspeakable  length  of 
your  trains,  by  your  painted  faces,  your  unseemly 
behaviour  in  holy  places,  your  immodesty,  etc.,"  thun- 
dered Fra  Bernardino,  and  then  he  goes  on  to  consign 
the  people  assisting  in  the  practices  or  in  the  spread  of 
these  infections,  to  such  places  as  he  thought  suited 
their  particular  needs.  Both  he  and  Savonarola  had 
scaffold  altars  built  in  the  public  squares  with  a  statue 
of  the  devil  upon  them,  and  they  besought  the  people 
to  become  cleansed  and  saved  by  throwing  their  idols 
upon  the  altars,  that  they  might  be  publicly  burned. 
Many  hundreds  responded  and  in  their  "holy  frenzy" 
committed  their  "earthly  trumpery"  to  the  flames. 
Frenzied  conversions  seemed  to  be  of  doubtful  stability, 
however,  for  even  in  this  case,  all  of  Savonarola's  elo- 
quence availed  but  for  a  very  brief  season,  and  we  are 
assured  that  not  only  was  his  own  downfall  contingent 
upon,  or  greatly  hastened  by,  his  stand  in  this  matter, 
but  still  worse,  that  these  very  converts  soon  became 
"wilder  than  before"  and  that  "their  shamelessness"  was 
copied  by  many  others  who  before  had  only  looked  on. 

As  the  madness  for  ornament  increased  we  find  ladies 
"spending  their  hours  at  their  mirrors  when  they 
should  have  been  attending  to  domestic  duties." 
Others,  we  are  told,  were  hours  each  day  with  a  special- 
is't  who  treated  and  painted  their  faces  and  "frizzled 
and  curled  their  hair."  Lucrezia  Borgia  often  spent 
c  the  entire  day  at  her  toilet,  that  she  might  surely  out- 
shine any  of  her  competitors  when  they  assembled  for 
their  amusements  in  the  evening. 
92 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

A  great  lady,  Caterina  Sforza,  collected  more  than 
five  hundred  recipes,  more  than  one  third  of  which 
were  "magically  charmed  lotions"  for  the  complexion. 
She  highly  recommends  one  of  them — a  bath  in  the 
liquid  obtained  by  the  distillation  of  a  whole  dove 
with  its  feathers  on,  prepared  with  incantations. 
Ladies  used  vine-water,  bean-water,  rosemary,  verjuice, 
verdigris,  and  oil  of  talc  on  their  faces  and  the  exposed 
parts  of  their  necks  and  arms.  This  makes  modern 
beauty  specialists  seem  tame  indeed.  In  Venice  it  is 
recorded  that  ladies  were  never  at  a  loss  for  means  to 
preserve  the  softness  and  beauty  of  their  skin.  They 
applied  a  slice  of  raw  veal  to  their  cheeks  at  night, 
after  it  had  been  soaked  in  fresh  milk  for  several  hours 
before  using,  and  sometimes  in  alum  water,  extract  of 
peach-stones,  beans,  lemon-seeds,  breadcrumbs,  and 
vinegar.  A  thousand  rules  existed  to  soften  the  hands 
and  to  make  the  nails  rosy. 

The  passion  for  perfumes  developed  into  a  mania. 
Every  article  of  clothing,  even  for  mourning,  was  per 
fumed  and  at  festivals  the  horses  and  mules  were  highly 
scented.  Venice  records  the  universal  use  of  musk- 
amber,  aloes,  myrrh,  peppermint,  jonquil,  Indian  plum, 
cinnamon,  ammonum,  cloves,  and  other  scents  for  baths 
and  lotions,  and  also  for  pouring  about  in  public 
places. 

At  about  this  time  the  first  books  on  the  toilet  were 
published,  and  practitioners  appeared,  to  relieve  those 
who  could  afford  it  of  the  onerous  duties  of  self  make-up. 
This  innovation  is  commented  on  as  a  great  relief  to 
the  fine  ladies  who  were  already  so  "worn"  by  the  ar- 
duous duties  of  self  preparation  that  they  were  unable 

93 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

to  rise  to  the  social  responsibilities  of  amusement  and 
enjoyment. 

Homage  and  thanks  are  undoubtedly  forthcoming 
in  every  age  for  these  delicate  inventions  which  have 
relieved  us  from  personal  responsibility  in  such  im- 
portant matters,  that  we  may  be  entirely  free  to  rest, 
meditate,  and  make  ready  for  events  of  greater  mo- 
ment. Another  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Renaissance. 

It  is  obvious  that  although  the  consciousness  of  the 
High  Renaissance  was  saturated  with  the  highest  ideals 
of  culture,  refinement  and  beauty,  its  appreciation  and 
its  creation,  there  were  also  present  in  the  minds  of  men 
the  same  appetites,  vanities,  idolatries,  and  sense  grat- 
ifications, peculiarly  human  and  quite  universal;  and, 
as  in  previous  and  subsequent  periods,  these  foibles  and 
vanities  found  their  most  ready  field  for  exploitation  in 
matters  pertaining  to  the  costumes  of  the  period,  domi- 
nated as  they  were  in  the  earlier  part  by  sincerity, 
charm,  and  beauty;  in  the  middle  part  by  luxury,  dig- 
nity, and  richness ;  and  in  the  later  decades  by  sumptuous- 
ness,  show,  and  affectation.  This  last  aspect  was  the 
beginning  of  the  end  so  far  as  the  pure  ideal  of  the 
Renaissance  could  be  expressed.  It  therefore  remained 
for  the  rest  of  the  century  to  prove  the  decline  and  spe- 
cific decay  of  this  ideal  and  for  the  subsequent  century 
to  effect  its  dissemination,  throughout  Europe,  and 
finally  throughout  the  civilized  world. 


ABOUT    FIFTEEN   HUNDRED.      MALE  COSTUME.       NOTE   POSSIBILITIES 
FOR  ADAPTATION  IN  CUT  AND  MATERIALS  AND  IN  THE  HAT. 


EARLY    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.       CHARACTERISTIC    FASHIONS    OF   THE 
FLORENTINE   LADIES   OF   THIS   PERIOD. 


CHAPTER  THREE 

THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND 
ENGLAND 


UNCONSCIOUSLY  at  first  and  then  consciously  the 
great  new  force  of  humanism  had  by  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century  become  the  all  controlling  urge  of 
social  life  in  Italy.  Its  expression  was  correspondingly 
subject  to  the  consideration  of  convenience  and  com- 
fort, as  well  as  luxury  and  show,  as  a  natural  sequence 
of  the  conscious  knowledge  of  the  physical  needs  and 
possibilities  of  the  body  in  its  relation  to  the  material 
universe. 

Looked  at  from  this  angle  of  vision  a  new  view  of  life 
became  universal,  the  natural  consequence  being  the 
organization  of  a  different  social  expression  that  de- 
veloped so  rapidly  as  to  reach  complete  fruition  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  next  century.  Alone  and  quite  iso- 
lated from  other  countries  this  new  institution  sprang 
up  and  developed  in  Italy,  based  on  the  creeds  of  the 
ancients,  interpreted  in  the  new  light  of  humanism, 
where  the  intellect  and  senses  were  finding  an  equal 
satisfaction,  and  the  mediaeval  spiritual  idea  lan- 
quished.  It  was,  however,  very  different  in  the  rest  of 
Europe.  We  read  of  England  as,  by  comparison  with 
Italy,  "a  barbaric  country,  in  which  food  and  warlike 
prowess  were  the  chief  concerns  of  men."  In  France, 

95 


PYSCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

devastated  by  wars,  with  its  spiritual  ecstasy  broken 
and  no  longer  a  source  of  power,  the  old  system  was 
still  in  a  death  struggle  with  newly  awakened,  unformu- 
lated,  and  unexpressed  desires. 

The  period  of  Louis  XI  (1461-1483)  witnessed  the 
final  combat  the  details  of  which  are  perhaps  too  well 
in  mind  to  require  repetition.  The  contest  between 
liberty  and  servitude,  relics  and  reality,  justice  and 
revenge,  reached  its  climax  during  the  half  frenzied 
reign  of  this,  the  strangest  of  all  French  kings,  in  whose 
time  there  was  no  firmly  established  social  order  to  be 
expressed,  though  as  in  all  evolution,  every  event  was  in 
reality  a  step  in  social  progress  toward  the  general  ideal, 
since  it  was  both  a  displacement  of  the  old  and  a  sug- 
gestion of  the  new.  At  the  death  of  Louis  XI  in  1483, 
Charles  VIII  was  but  fourteen  years  old  and  wholly  un- 
acquainted with  conditions  at  home  or  elsewhere.  For 
five  years,  while  his  sister  Anne  acted  as  Regent  and  his 
two  brothers-in-law  (one  of  whom,  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
was  appointed  President  of  the  Council)  fought  for 
supremacy  in  the  state,  Charles  attempted  to  familiarize 
himself  with  the  powers  and  possibilities  of  his  new 
position.  In  1488  he  threw  off  the  yoke  of  bondage  to 
his  sister,  married  Anne  of  Brittany,  and  tlms  added  the 
Duchy  of  Brittany  to  the  French  crown. 

Charles,  still  practically  ignorant  of  the  details  of 
state,  extremely  imaginative  and  romantic,  was,  writes 
an  admirer:  "the  sweetest  prince  that  ever  lived,  but 
irresolute  and  impressionable";  a  splendid  subject  to 
play  the  part  in  the  Renaissance  which  he  was  destined 
to  take.  It  was  this  monarch  and  his  army  of  courtiers 
on  the  way  to  conquer  Naples  and  win  it  back  to  the 
96 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

house  of  Anjou,  to  whom  it  had  once  belonged,  who  in 
passing  through  Milan  found  the  Renaissance  at  its 
height  at  the  court  of  Beatrice  d'Este,  learning  and  the 
arts  supreme  at  Florence,  and  the  church  of  Rome  about 
convinced  that  a  new  aesthetic  phase  of  holiness  would 
prove  vastly  advantageous. 

Picture  for  a  moment  the  surprise  and  amazement  of 
these  men,  born  and  reared  in  the  austere  conditions 
under  which  the  subjects  of  Louis  XI  lived,  introduced 
as  if  by  magic  into  the  transcendent  splendour  and  cul- 
ture of  the  High  Renaissance  in  Italy.  An  interesting 
picture  of  the  spiritual  and  economic  conditions  in  the 
great  cities  of  Italy  is  given  us  by  Mary  Duclaux  in 
her  short  history  of  France,  where  she  says:  "There 
reigned  a  great  wickedness  in  the  beautiful  cities  of 
Italy  and  the  people  took  the  French  for  an  army  of  de- 
liverers." Let  us  not  only  take  the  testimony  of  the 
French,  but  also  quote  as  witnesses  the  words  of  Marin 
Sanudo,  Venetian  secretary:  "There  is  no  city  in  Italy, 
not  Rome  or  Naples,  not  Milan,  Florence,  Bologna, 
Ferrara,  nay  not  my  own  Venice  even — that  is  holier 
than  the  cities  of  the  plain.  But  how  beautiful  were 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah!  What  angels  were  painted  in 
the  chapels  of  Florence  where  Savonarola  in  the  pulpit 
welcomed  with  his  fiery  eloquence  the  coming  of  the 
French !  and  Milan  with  the  frescoes  of  Leonardo  fresh 
upon  the  walls!  And  Ariosto  at  Ferrara!  And  Venice 
where  the  girl  Madonnas  of  Gian  Bellini  were  not  yet 
all  begun!  And  the  pope  at  Rome  was  Borgia!  and  the 
preacher  at  Florence  was  Savonarola!" 

Amidst  all  this  strange  extravagance  of  beauty, 
vice,  and  virtue,  the  king  of  France  moved  like  a 

97 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

"  quaint  elfin  child."  Mary  Duclaux  goes  on  to  tell  how 
the  French  soldiers  shied  stones  at  Leonardo's  study  of 
Duke  Sforza,  and  how  the  masses  of  common  people 
praised  the  French  for  their  deliverance,  and  how  they 
wept  with  emotional  delight.  Women  gave  their  jewels 
to  pay  the  soldiers,  and  the  men  threw  open  the  gates 
of  the  cities,  that  there  might  be  no  opposition  to  their 
taking  whatever  they  chose,  so  worn  and  tired  were 
they  with  the  tyranny  of  the  nobles  that  had  made 
possible  the  poverty  and  the  sumptuousness  of  this 
epoch.  The  effect  was  electrifying  and  the  example 
contagious.  While  they  marvelled  they  tried  to  un- 
derstand. 

With  the  brief  success  of  Charles  and  his  hasty  return 
to  France  we  are  not  concerned,  but  in  the  ideas, 
feelings,  and  actual  materials  which  his  soldiers  took 
back  with  them  to  France,  we  have  a  deep  interest,  for 
this  constituted  the  entering  wedge  that  brought  about 
the  complete  collapse  of  the  old  structure  in  France,  so 
soon  afterward  followed  by  the  enthusiastic  reception 
and  development  of  the  Renaissance  idea  by  Francis  I 
and  his  court  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

We  recall  that  it  was  in  France  that  the  art  called 
Gothic  was  indigenous,  that  here  the  idea  of  mediaeval- 
ism  as  an  imaginative  spiritual  expression  was  most 
nobly  and  beautifully  comprehended  and  externalized. 
An  art,  somewhat  grave  and  to  one  who  thinks  in 
terms  of  purely  human  reality,  perhaps  a  bit  austere. 
Asceticism  had  developed  the  theory  that  the  very 
existence  of  matter  should  be  ignored.  Painters  and 
sculptors  attenuated  bodies  until  they  represented  an 
idea,  not  a  reality.  Clothes  delicately  draped  upon  the 
98 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

figures  had  the  one  purpose  of  serving  to  immaterialize 
the  body. 

Greek  art  on  the  other  hand  sought  to  express  by  the 
body  itself,  its  positions,  its  actions,  and  its  draperies, 
all  that  was  possible  of  natural  material  beauty.  The 
Renaissance  in  Italy  sought  the  union  and  balance  of 
these  two  aims;  but  in  its  practices  it  showed  what 
was  likely  to  happen  when  human  appetites  and  senses 
gave  battle  to  the  Greek  spirit,  which  required  sub- 
servience to  the  ideal  of  beautiful  material  development, 
instead  of  a  mastery  of  both  the  spiritual  and  aesthetic 
ideals  of  mediae valism  and  of  the  Greeks. 

France,  more  thoroughly  impregnated  with  the  spirit 
of  asceticism,  more  practically  committed  to  the 
institution  of  Chivalry,  and  less  influenced  in  the  Middle 
Ages  by  the  lives  of  the  ancients,  was  like  a  disabled  and 
partly  wrecked  ship,  tossed  about  and  lacking  ob- 
jective, rudder,  or  wheel.  The  old  formulas  were  dis- 
placed, no  longer  functioning,  and  the  new  were  un- 
known, but  the  people  themselves  were  keen,  sensitive, 
and  abnormally  creative. 

The  king,  Charles  VIII,  went  over  heart,  soul,  and 
body  to  the  vanities  of  the  world.  Official  court  life  in 
France  was  given  up  to  the  pursuit  of  sensuous  luxury, 
sumptuousness,  frippery,  and  appetite  enjoyment,  to  the 
despair  of  the  Platonists  or  adherents  to  the  classic,  who 
immediately  espoused  the  Greek  conception  of  material 
culture  rather  than  the  Baroque  ideal  of  Venice  and 
Milan.  Castiglione  was,  however,  not  very  much  moved 
by  this  failure  of  the  French  to  grasp  what  he  thought 
was  the  true  sense  of  the  Renaissance,  for  he  says, 
"there  are  fools  everywhere,"  and  he  might  truthfully 

99 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

have  added — in  every  time  and  concerned  with  every 
subject. 

Both  of  these  conceptions  were,  however,  trans- 
planted by  Charles  VIII  and  his  army.  Both  were 
planted  securely  in  France  and  both  have  developed  in 
mortal  combat  with  each  other  there  and  everywhere 
they  have  come  together  since;  first  one  rising  into 
prominence  and  dominating  the  creative  and  construc- 
tive thought,  and  then  the  other. 

How  strongly  every  period  is  influenced  by  its 
literature,  and  how  clearly  literature  shows  the  trend  of 
thought  in  the  period,  we  are  aware.  The  enormous 
effect  of  the  classic  manuscripts  of  Italy,  and  the 
popularity  of  certain  authors,  was  but  hinted  at  in  our 
treatment  of  the  Renaissance  in  the  last  chapter.  It 
seems  that  if  we  would  understand  the  social  art  ex- 
pression of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  in 
France,  or  comprehend  the  peculiar  charm  of  that  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  a  particular  reference  to  at  least 
one  writer  among  the  Ancients  is  imperative.  This  is 
partly  because  of  his  ideal  political  scheme,  but  more 
particularly  because  of  his  theory  of  "Platonic  love," 
which  seemed  to  be  exactly  what  the  people  both  in 
Italy  and  France  were  looking  for  to  express  their  new 
conceptions  and  to  provide  an  unlimited  field  for 
personal  experiment. 

Space  here  limits  any  considerable  discussion  of  this 
theory,  but  necessity  seemingly  compels  us  to  take  its 
influence  into  full  account  in  forming  our  conception  of 
the  transformation  of  all  domestic  relations,  while  a 
knowledge  of  its  meaning  and  power  is  essential  to  an 
ordinary  working  imagination,  in  an  attempt  to  con- 
100 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

ceive  the  Renaissance  idea  in  France  and  its  effect  on 
social  life.  It  is  obvious  that  the  visit  of  Charles  VIII 
and  his  courtiers  to  Italy,  particularly  to  the  court  of 
Lodovico  at  Milan,  and  to  the  republic  of  Florence,  was 
important  in  opening  the  way  for  the  development  that 
soon  came. 

Charles  died  in  1498,  and  Louis  XII  ascended  the 
throne,  which  he  occupied  until  1515,  when  the  ac- 
cession of  Francis  I  took  place.  He,  too,  laid  claim  to 
the  dukedom  of  Milan  and  sent  an  army  to  make  good 
his  demand.  This  was  another  link  in  the  chain  of 
circumstances  which  made  the  French  familiar  with  the 
results  of  Renaissance  life,  before  they  had  even  con- 
ceived its  idea.  They,  at  the  same  time,  saw  some- 
thing of  the  workings  of  the  ideal  at  close  range  and, 
contrasted  with  the  somewhat  antiquated  and  out- 
grown institutions  under  which  they  lived,  it  made  an 
irresistible  appeal  both  to  their  imagination  and  to  their 
senses.  In  1509  Venice  fell  to  the  French,  and  no 
doubt  its  luxury,  its  sumptuous  follies,  and  its  grandiose 
expression  made  a  distinct  appeal  to  those  who  never 
before  had  thought  in  such  terms. 

It  must  be  remembered  at  this  point  that  the  dis- 
covery of  America  in  1492,  by  diverting  the  trade  of 
Spain,  France,  and  England  from  the  east  to  the  west, 
effected  the  final  ruin  of  the  Italian  states,  Venice  and 
Genoa  in  particular.  This  made  them  an  easy  prey  to 
foreign  invasion,  and  explains  their  loss  of  power  and 
consequent  decline  of  influence,  which  by  the  eighteenth 
century  resulted  in  transferring  creative  art  inspiration 
to  France,  whose  art  mode  dominated  civilized  Europe. 

For  his  third  wife  Louis  XII  married  Mary,  daughter 

101 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

of  Henry  VII  (Tudor)  of  England.  We  may  connect 
the  movement  in  the  two  countries  in  this  way,  although 
no  notable  effect  was  felt  in  England  until  well  into  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII. 

A  glimpse  of  the  contagion  of  the  idea  of  dress  for 
personal  effect,  in  France,  may  be  had  from  a  quotation 
which  Ely,  in  his  "Women  of  the  Renaissance," 
attributes  to  Anne  of  France.  "She  was  sure,"  he 
says,  "that  simplicity  formerly  had  been  pushed  too 
far.  To  neglect  to  study  appearance,  to  cultivate  false 
modesty,  is  to  commit  an  unseemly  and  most  dishonest 
act.  To  dress  must  be  considered  a  duty,  said  she." 

Another  incident  reveals  the  power  of  fashion  and  the 
benefits  that  accrue  to  him  who  follows  or  contributes 
thereto.  From  Italy  came  the  mandate,  high-necked 
ruffs  only  might  be  worn.  The  complexion  and  hands 
became  objects  of  great  care.  The  hair,  before  sadly 
neglected  in  France,  was  treated,  and  in  the  "mode  of 
Venice."  One  historian  tells  us  of  the  kindly  ihought  of 
Providence  in  furnishing  Mary  of  England  wim  natural 
golden  locks,  thus  saving  her  the  trouble  of  making  them 
so,  and  by  this  same  ingratiating  her  into  the  hearts  of 
all,  because  of  this  courtesy.  It  is  related  that  by  1512 
"fashion  was  omnipotent,"  in  fact,  we  find  Anne  of 
France  by  this  time  violently  rebelling  against  the 
mandate  of  "slim  figures  and  insufficient  coverings, 
stifling  in  summer  and  freezing  in  winter."  She  speaks 
of  health  and  even  life  itself  as  being  no  longer  con- 
sidered, and  believed  that  if  this  should  continue  no 
woman  could  be  long  considered  in  her  right  mind. 
Another  lady  of  the  same  court  is  made  to  say  of 
fashion's  power:  "To  the  natural  graces  of  a  lady  now 
102 


FIRST    HALF    OF    THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.       DUKE    OF    FERRARA, 
SHOWING  COSTUME  OF  A  NOBLE  OF  THE  HIGH  RENAISSANCE. 


EARLY  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  RENAISSANCE  COSTUMES 
WORN  BY  THE  COURTESANS  OF  VENICE.  THE  SUGGESTION  OF 
THE  EMPIRE  IN  CUT,  THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  HAIR  AND  OF  THE 
SLEEVES  SHOULD  BE  OF  PARTICULAR  INTEREST. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

they  prefer  a  stuffed  and  padded  ideal,  for  alas  the 
majority  of  women  a  dialogue  of  Plato  could  not  hold  a 
candle  to  a  conversation  with  a  dressmaker,"  a  remark 
that  might  find  application  later  than  the  sixteenth 
century. 

More  gradually,  but  as  surely,  the  intellectuals 
gained  in  number,  following  the  theory  of  Plato  that  the 
soul  should  be  clothed  instead  of  the  body — that  is,  he 
affirmed  a  relation  between  colour,  form,  and  texture 
and  the  soul  quality,  or  the  quality  of  personality.  His 
followers  besought  men  to  develop  a  soul  personality 
and  to  express  this  in  their  clothes.  This  ideal  was 
surely  higher  than  the  decadent  conception  of  Venice, 
making  a  stronger  appeal  to  the  imagination  and 
aesthetic  sense  of  the  best  of  the  French  people.  It  was 
consequently  successful  in  the  reign  of  Francis  I, 
espoused  by  Madame  d'Etampes  and  Dianne  de 
Poitiers  and  other  great  ladies  who  formed  the  central 
group  in  determining  the  form  of  culture  in  the  court  of 
this  great  monarch. 

While  not  minimizing  the  importance  of  the  work  of 
Charles  VIII  and  Louis  XII  in  introducing  France  to 
the  Renaissance,  we  remember  that  it  was  then  in 
reality  only  an  introduction  to  the  practices  and  the 
crystallized  results,  not  to  the  idea  that  produced  them. 
It  was  at  the  court  of  Francis  I  (1515  to  1547)  and  of 
Henry  II  (1547  to  1559)  that  the  newly  presented  ideal 
was  nursed  and  grew  up. 

Contemporary  with  Francis  I  was  Charles  V,  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  King  of  Spain,  Count  of  Flanders, 
and  lord  of  all  Italy.  He  was  also  controller  of  the 
wealth  of  the  Indies,  Peru  and  Mexico,  while  his 

103 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

court  was  the  richest  in  the  world  and  his  power  tre- 
mendous. 

Henry  VIII  of  England  came  to  the  throne  in  1509, 
and  was  the  third  most  important  monarch  in  Christen- 
dom during  this  great  period.  The  sixteenth  century 
is  the  history  of  the  development  of  complete  political 
autocracy  and  of  the  adaptation  of  the  Renaissance  idea 
of  social  life  to  these  countries,  with  the  aid  of  all  that 
was  opened  up  by  the  discovery  and  exploration  of  the 
new  world  with  its  untold  resources  and  its  contribution 
of  new  materials  and  ideas.  All  the  countries  were 
closely  associated  with  Rome  through  the  Vatican. 
Leo  X,  a  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  was  Pope,  and 
he  was  no  less  committed  to  humanism  and  its  practices 
than  was  his  illustrious  father,  the  only  particular 
difference  being  that  his  was  a  more  material  humanism. 
This  influence  assisted  in  the  dissemination  of  humanis- 
tic ideas. 

The  court  of  Francis  I  was  remarkable  for  its  variety, 
brilliance,  splendour,  and  its  astonishing  gaiety  and 
freedom.  An  atmosphere  of  reserve,  formality,  and 
dignity  had  lingered  even  through  the  entire  reign  of 
Louis  XII,  but  with  the  accession  of  Francis  I  full 
rein  was  given  to  the  spread  of  the  new  imported 
ideas  and  the  practices  they  inculcated. 

At  this  court  were  to  be,  found  such  literary  geniuses 
as  Clement  Marot,  the  satirist  and  poet,  who  was  valet 
de  chambre  to  the  king,  and  who  was  himself  surrounded 
by  other  wits  of  lesser  note  of  French  and  Italian 
origin.  Marot  himself  has  been  called  both  the  Spencer 
and  the  Chaucer  of  France.  It  is  in  this  period,  too,  that 
Francois  Rabelais  lived  and  wrote  his  satirical  romances 
104 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

in  which  he  castigated  the  court  and  unmercifully 
pounded  the  clergy  and  the  nobles  for  their  vanity, 
frivolity,  and  unmanly  conduct.  His  "History  of 
Gargantua  and  Pantagruel"  may  be  extravagant  in  its 
execution,  but  it  seems  to  open  the  way  to  a  somewhat 
transparent  judgment  of  social  conditions  during  his  reign. 

This  reign  and  that  of  Henry  II  are  so  closely  associ- 
ated that  they  cannot  be  entirely  divorced  even  from 
the  first.  The  young  Dauphin,  Henry,  at  a  very  early 
age  married  Catherine  de'  Medici,  of  vivid  memory, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  Duke  of 
Urbino,  great  grand  daughter  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnifi- 
cent, and  therefore  closely  related  to  two  popes: 
Clement  VII,  who  died  two  years  after  her  marriage, 
and  Leo  X,  both  of  whom  were  of  the  immediate  family. 
Her  marriage  was  arranged  by  the  former,  who  used 
her  in  an  intrigue  with  Charles  V.  Undoubtedly  one 
of  the  cleverest,  most  sensible  and  most  determined 
women  in  history,  she  was  still  a  "woman  of  the 
bourgeoisie,"  hated  by  the  French  for  her  Italian  origin 
as  well  as  for  her  lowly  birth,  and  wholly  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  the  French  mind  and  with  the  character  of 
their  newly  adopted  practices. 

In  telling  us  of  the  tact  and  shrewdness  of  Catherine 
in  gaining  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  king,  Noel 
Williams,  in  "Henry  II,  his  Court  and  Time,"  writes: 

"At  her  urgent  entreaty,  he  enrolled  her  in  the 
*  Petite  Bande' — that  little  company  of  beautiful, 
witty,  and  complaisant  ladies,  of  whom  Madame 
d'Etampes  was  the  acknowledged  chief,  whose  privilege 
it  was  to  accompany  the  King  on  his  visits  to  his  differ- 
ent country-seats,  to  follow  him  in  the  chase,  to  dine  and 

105 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

sup  at  his  table,  to  bandy  jests  with  him  (most  of  which, 
we  fear,  would  scarcely  bear  repetition  in  a  modern 
drawing-room)  and,  generally,  to  do  their  best  to  make 
him  forget  that  he  was  now  a  middle-aged  man  in  very 
indifferent  health.  From  that  time  Catherine  was 
seldom  free  from  his  Majesty's  side,  and  was  soon 
firmly  established  in  the  royal  favour. 

"It  is  probable  that  Catherine's  success  with  the 
King  was  facilitated  by  the  fact  that  she  had  had  the 
wit  to  insinuate  herself  into  the  good  graces  of  two 
persons  who  possessed  more  influence  with  Frangois 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  Court  combined.  One  was  the 
Queen  of  Navarre,  to  whose  kind  heart  the  lonely,  un- 
loved girl  made  an  irresistible  appeal,  and  whose  sym- 
pathy, once  enlisted  on  her  side,  she  was  careful  to  pre- 
serve by  a  skillful  appearance  of  deference.  The  other 
was  the  reigning  favourite,  Madame  d'Etampes,  dame 
d*  honneur  to  the  princesses,  without  whose  sanction 
no  lady  was  ever  admitted  to  the  King's  intimate 
circle." 

Catherine  brought  to  France  a  dot  of  one  hundred 
thousand  crowns,  besides  an  additional  portion  of 
thirty  thousand  crowns,  added  by  Pope  Clement  VTI  in 
return  for  her  renunciation  to  him  of  all  claims  to  the 
duchy  of  Urbino.  She  also  inherited  from  her  mother, 
a  French  woman,  estates  valued  at  ten  thousand  crowns 
a  year.  It  is  illuminating  to  find  that  one,  Strozzi  by 
name,  loaned  the  pope  eighty  thousand  crowns  and 
took  as  security  several  pieces  of  jewellery,  one  of  which 
was  a  "magnificent  jewel,"  used  as  a  clasp  for  the 
pontifical  cope,  which  was  made  from  a  design  by 
Collini.  The  next  pope,  Paul  III,  demanded  that  these 
106 


FIRST  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  CHARM- 
ING DETAILS  SUCH  AS  THE  HAT,  BODICE  AND  SLEEVES,  REMIND 
US  OF  AN  EPOCH  IN  ITALY  WHEN  NOTHING  UGLY  WAS  CREATED. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

be  returned  to  the  crown,  since  they  were  not  personal 
property  but  belonged  to  the  church. 

She  also  had  a  "magnificent  trousseau"  all  stipulated 
in  the  marriage  contract.  "As  to  the  trousseau,"  reads 
the  contract,  "'the  Supreme  Pontiff  will,  at  his  own 
discretion,  furnish  his  illustrious  relative  with  clothing, 
ornaments,  and  jewels.  The  jewels  will  also  be  valued, 
and  a  record  of  them  preserved,  in  order  that,  in  the 
event  of  her  surviving  her  husband,  he  may  be  able  to 
recover  them  or  the  price  of  them.' 

"Among  these  jewels  were  a  set  of  immense  pear- 
shaped  pearls,  which  contemporary  writers  declare  to 
have  been  worth  a  kingdom;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  had  been  purchased  from  a  Lyons  merchant,  and 
were  only  valued  at  900  crowns.  These  pearls  were, 
many  years  later,  given  by  Catherine  to  her  daughter- 
in-law,  Mary  Stuart.  .  .  . 

"The  destiny  of  these  pearls  was  a  singular  one,  as 
after  Mary's  untimely  end  they  were  appropriated  by 
Queen  Elizabeth,  who  wore  them  without  a  blush,  not- 
withstanding that  they  had  originally  come  from  a 
Pope,  and  had  been  blessed  and  consecrated  by  him." 

Upon  the  trousseau  properly  so  called — gowns, 
lingerie,  and  so  forth — no  expense  was  spared,  and 
everything  was  of  the  most  regal  magnificence.  The 
praises  bestowed  by  some  historians  upon  the  Pope's 
munificence  toward  his  kinswoman  are,  however, 
scarcely  deserved,  since  a  considerable  part  of  the  ex- 
pense incurred  appears  to  have  been  defrayed  by  the 
unfortunate  Florentines. 

The  social  art  of  these  two  epochs  was  in  the  first  half 
of  the  century  centred  around  three  women:  Madame 

107 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

d'Etampes,  for  many  years  the  mistress  of  Francis  I, 
and  Dianne  de  Poitiers,  who  was  first  mistress  of 
Francis  I  and  then  of  Henry  II  both  as  Dauphin  and  as 
king,  and  Catherine  de'  Medici,  the  lawful  wife  of  the 
Dauphin,  and  afterward  queen  of  France.  This  phase 
of  court  life  furnishes  one  of  the  most  fascinating 
chapters  in  the  history  of  French  society  between  1525 
and  1550,  looked  at  from  any  point  of  view. 

To  this  brilliant  and,  according  to  previously  ac- 
cepted ideals,  most  profligate  of  courts,  came  the  most 
beautiful  and  talented  women  of  France,  the  most 
distinguished  Italian  philosophers,  artists,  poets,  and 
great  diplomats ;  musicians  and  courtiers  from  Italy  and 
from  Spain,  together  with  a  great  medley  of  social 
phenomena,  never  before  assembled  even  in  the  most 
brilliant  and  spectacular  days  of  Chivalry.  Culture 
became  a  mania,  the  starved  imagination  and  senses  of 
France  revelling  in  a  newly  found  means  of  satisfaction. 

Very  early  in  the  period  the  court  became  divided  into 
two  distinct  parties,  called  the  "Lilacs"  and  the 
"Blues."  The  leader  and  chief  exponent  of  the  former 
was  Madame  d'Etampes,  who  collected  about  her  a  very 
liberal,  luxurious  and  worldly  set  of  followers.  These  es- 
poused the  Renaissance  for  its  freedom  in  religious  and 
social  matters  and  for  the  sense  pleasure  it  afforded.  The 
leader  of  the  "Blues"  was  Dianne  de  Poitiers  who 
though  rigidly  religious,  and  a  woman  of  unusual  intel- 
lect, great  poise  and  beauty,  showed  a  remarkable  pre- 
dilection for  luxury.  She  was  shrewd  and  determined, 
was  twenty  years  older  than  the  Dauphin,  and  as  un- 
principled as  she  was  cultured  and  religious.  The  path 
of  her  ascendency  over  Madame  d'Etampes  and  Cath- 
108 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

erine  has  been  the  subject  of  many  books.  Her  influ- 
ence on  the  art  of  the  Renaissance  in  France  can 
scarcely  be  imagined.  The  Dauphin,  naturally  one  of 
her  strongest  adherents,  being  insignificant  and  incapa- 
ble, left  the  social  side  of  his  court  entirely  to  these  two 
estimable  women  to  develop. 

Catherine,  before  the  death  of  Frances  I  was  practi-  J^ 
cally  powerless  so  far  as  self  expression  was  concerned, 
but  she  was  no  less  determined  on  her  course,  no  less 
prepared  to  make  herself  felt  when  the  time  arrived, 
nor  was  she  one  whit  less  committed  to  the  Italian  idea 
than  when  she  arrived  in  France.  Constantly  sur- 
rounded by  strictly  Italian  influences  she  established  a 
set  with  a  taste  for  Italian  forms  wholly  outside  of  the 
two  French  interpretations  of  the  Italian  conception 
that  were  developing  side  by  side  with  her  version  of  it. 

The  last  decade  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II  saw  this  idea 
begin  to  dominate,  and  after  his  death,  while  Catherine 
in  actuality  was  the  ruler  of  France,  till  the  accession  of 
Henry  IV  in  1589,  it  completely  held  the  court. 

It  is  not  possible  to  divorce  costumes  from  the  life 
of  this  great  era,  or  from  the  palace  which  was  the 
setting  for  the  costumes,  they  in  turn  being  the  more 
intimate  settings  for  the  beautiful  and  brilliant  women 
who  directed  the  development  of  the  period. 

It  was  in  1530,  during  this  reign,  that  the  hoop  for  the  </ 
skirt  first  became  fashionable.  It  was  a  mode  that  pre- 
vailed more  or  less  until  the  days  of  Henry  IV,  even 
though  the  church  and  the  satirists  seem  to  have  united 
against  it.  Although  it  disappeared  in  the  seventeenth 
century  it  reappeared  in  the  eighteenth  and  the  nine- 
teenth, in  various  forms.  It  was  about  this  time  that 

109 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 


the  "grace  and  simple  elegance  of  the  Middle  Ages" 
seems  to  have  been  completely  lost,  while  dress  became  a 
matter  of  ornamental  detail  of  every  description,  rather 


than  a  dignified  ensemble.  rie  chief  aim  from  that 
time  was  seemingly  to  attract  by  objective  display,  or  in 
other  words,  the  motive  in  costume  changed  entirely 
from  distinction  to  coquetry  in  this  reign,  proving  a 
strong  element  ever  afterward  in  the  development  of 
what  we  may  call  the  French  styles. 

The  passion  of  Francis  I  for  building  was  unlimited. 
Besides  making  over  the  royal  feudal  castles  through 
alterations  and  additions,  into  somewhat  livable  places, 
he  caused  many  new  houses  to  be  built,  some  less 
pretentious  than  others,  but  with  more  intimate  possi- 
bilities. Many  fine  chateaux  came  into  being  during 
the  first  half  of  the  century  because  of  the  impetus  he 
gave  to  architecture,  and  under  the  inspiration  of 
Catherine  de'  Medici  enthusiasm  for  building  was 
continued  until  near  the  end  of  the  century. 

Gobelin  tapestries  were  made  in  the  period  of 
Francis  I.  Soon  becoming  fashionable  they  added 
greatly  to  the  richness  of  the  interiors,  where  they 
formed  gorgeous  backgrounds  for  the  richer  costumes 
of  the  Renaissance. 

The  new  social  order  had  to  be  expressed  in  terms 
suited  to  the  knowledge  and  feeling  for  comfort  and 
convenience  which  the  Renaissance  movement  brought 
into  life,  for  luxury  and  the  desire  for  sumptuous  ap- 
pearance were  essentials  in  the  mode  of  living  already 
adopted.  This  led  to  the  fashioning  of  costume  in 
keeping  with  the  quality  of  the  new  ideals  of  the  social 
aristocracy,  and  of  their  gorgeous  settings  in  the  house. 
110 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

Henry  II  gave  Diane  (the  Duchess  of  Valentinois) 
the  chateau  at  Chenonceaux,  which  became  the  centre 
of  cultured  life,  where  its  talented  mistress  collected 
beautiful  and  costly  ornaments  of  art  from  Italy  and  the 
Far  East.  Here,  too,  the  king  spent  much  of  his  time 
and  gave  audiences.  Here  the  great  nobles  of  the 
court,  artists,  literary  geniuses,  cultured  women,  and 
ambassadors  flocked,  that  they  might  contribute  each 
his  talent  to  the  general  demonstration  of  joy  and  satis- 
faction in  the  new  phase  of  life. 

Quietly,  but  with  fearful  determination,  Catherine, 
the  queen,  planned  the  ruin  of  this  enchantress,  while 
she  also  developed  the  Italian  ideas  and  methods  which 
she  was  destined  to  put  in  practice  earlier  than  she  her- 
self probably  supposed,  for  in  1559  Henry  II  was 
wounded  in  the  eye  at  a  tournament  and  died  from  the 
injury  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  his  reign. 

Francis  II  was  sixteen  when  proclaimed  king  and 
finally  Catherine  de'  Medici,  the  dowager  queen,  was 
made  regent.  She  immediately  seized  the  crown  jewels 
from  Diane,  expelled  her  from  the  court  and,  sending 
her  into  the  country,  took  over  Chenonceaux.  Thus 
she  proceeded  to  break  the  spell  which  had  been 
cast  over  the  officers  of  state,  the  court,  and  the 
church,  and  to  inaugurate  a  new  political  and  social 
regime. 

Catherine  was  scarcely  less  a  master  builder  than  was 
Francis  I.  She  patronized  the  greatest  architects, 
brought  in  many  Italian  artist  craftsmen,  and  contri- 
buted no  little  to  the  development  of  the  palatial 
housing  and  royal  costuming  of  autocratic  France,  as 
it  was  expressed  later  in  the  periods  of  Louis  XIV,  XV, 

ill 


. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

and  XVI,  although  she  herself  always  wore  black  after 
the  death  of  the  king. 

Naturally  the  costumes  of  the  Renaissance  in  France 
as  in  other  periods,  are  accessories  to  the  expression  of 
the  ideas  which  were  the  bone  and  fibre  of  this  in- 
stitution as  it  was  here  represented.  The  traditions  of 
an  affected,  austere,  and  exhausted  medievalism  were 
still  strong,  particularly  with  the  radical  church  party, 
to  which  certain  women  of  the  royal  house  belonged. 
The  decadent  sumptuousness  of  Venice,  the  result  of 
complete  and  open  surrender  to  the  senses,  which 
Charles  VIII  embraced  and  transplanted  to  his  court, 
brought  into  France  an  element  of  vain  self -conscious- 
ness, a  sensuous  personal  exploitation  and  abandon  to 
amusement  that  called  out  all  the  inventions  of  fash- 
ion to  furnish  appropriate  costumes.  The  classic  pla- 
tonic  party,  committed  to  beauty  for  its  own  sake,  and 
for  a  satisfaction  to  the  mind,  called  for  restraint,  an 
intellectual  conception  of  life,  and  an  aesthetic  repre- 
sentation founded  on  reason  instead  of  on  the  emotions. 
It  was  the  function  of  art  and  fashion  then  as  it  is  now  to 
foresee,  and  sensing  these  warring  elements,  to  feel  out 
which  called  the  loudest  for  expression,  then  to  provide 
designs  and  materials  to  answer  these  needs. 

There  was  still  one  more  influence  to  consider,  at 
first  more  or  less  confined  to  the  bourgeoisie,  but  by  the 
middle  of  the  century  a  mighty  force  even  among  the 
elect.  This  was  the  new  religious  idea  of  Protestantism, 
contributing  its  peculiar  qualities  to  the  general  mani- 
festation of  Renaissance  mind.  Madame  d'Etampes 
had  been  interested  in  this  movement,  as  were  her 
followers,  but  it  was  near  the  middle  of  the  century  that 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

it  became  fashionable,  when  its  influence  began  to 
touch  social  life,  modifying  amusements,  controlling 
certain  habits,  and  contributing  an  element  of  austerity 
and  peculiarity  to  the  costumes,  wherever  there  was  a 
tendency  to  radicalism  on  the  part  of  those  who  took  up 
this  new  dogma. 

Some  facts  as  to  modes,  or  at  least  as  to  certain 
articles  of  apparel,  are  obtainable  from  each  of  the 
periods  embraced  in  the  sixteenth  century.  As  the 
social  system  crystallized  under  the  influence  of  the 
various  phases  of  the  Renaissance,  as  it  manifested  it- 
self under  the  domination  of  one  great  controlling 
personality  after  another,  and  as  the  feeling  for  human- 
ism became  an  acknowledged  fact,  first  a  fashion,  then 
a  style  appeared,  each  with  its  peculiar  characteristics 
well  defined. 

With  Francis  I  the  monarch  was  absolute,  but  social 
We  we  recall,  was  composed  of  two  parties.  This 
division  meant  that  in  matters  of  clothing  there  was  one 
party  strongly  favouring  materials  in  blue  and  white, 
while  the  other  adhered  to  tones  of  violet  or  purple  com- 
bined with  gold  and  sometimes  with  other  colours. 
All  these  colours  were  of  a  rather  light  value  when 
compared  with  those  of  Italy,  which  were  deep  and 
rich  and  of  a  considerable  intensity.  Diane  herself 
almost  uniformly  wore  white  linen  or  silk  muslin  with 
blue  trimmings  and  other  rich  accessories,  and  this 
style  or  mannerism  was  copied  in  modified  form  by 
many  of  her  admirers.  When  Catherine  came  to 
France  not  only  did  she  bring  with  her  many  costumes 
and  furnishings  of  Italian  colour,  material,  and  work- 
manship, but  Italian  ladies,  philosophers,  musicians, 

113 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

craftsmen,  and  artists  were  found  in  great  numbers 
ever  after  at  the  French  court.  This  established  a  mode 
copied  by  not  a  few  of  those  who  were  heartily  in 
accord  with  Italian  taste. 

The  violent  hatred  between  Diane  and  Madame 
d'Etampes  and  between  Diane  and  Catherine  estab- 
lished three  distinct  schools  or  classes  of  colour  and 
taste,  each  of  which  was  developed  and  made  the  most 
of  by  those  who  looked  on  and  sought  to  obtain  favour, 
or  to  exploit  for  commercial  reasons  the  different  taste 
choices  of  these  three  women. 

Men  of  the  nobility  in  the  days  of  Francis  I  wore 
doublets  and  trunk-hose.  Their  stockings  were  gene- 
rally scarlet  and  came  half  way  between  the  knee  and 
thigh.  A  square-toed  shoe  was  popular,  and  a  cap  of 
soft  material  (velvet  or  damask -silk)  trimmed  with 
jewels  and  an  ostrich  feather,  was  worn.  Men  polled 
their  hair  and  wore  beards  and  mustaches.  Some- 
times a  mantle  of  velvet  or  brocade,  lined  or  trimmed 
with  ermine  or  cloth  of  gold,  was  thrown  over  the  shoul- 
der, while  a  jewelled  sword  was  worn  at  the  side. 
.  -  "The  doublet  was  cut  with  a  full  skirt  and  large  sleeves 
which  were  banded  at  the  wrist  with  big  ruffles.  Many 
wore  a  short  coat  thrown  over  the  shoulder  the  sleeves 
of  which  were  full,  and  there  was  a  large  rolling  collar. 
Hose  were  generally  slashed  and  lined  with  colour  and 
at  times  were  also  puffed  and  ruffled. 

Materials  were  exceedingly  rich,  "velvets  and  rare 
brocades"  being  in  common  use.  Fine  silks  and  dam- 
asks were  sought  in  Italy  and  the  East,  while  "laces 
which  had  come  into  fashion  in  Venice"  were  combined 
in  various  ways  with  silk  and  fine  linen  in  ruffs,  hand- 
114 


SECOND  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  GERMAN.  A 
CERTAIN  UNIQUE  DECORATIVE  QUALITY  REDEEMS  SOMETIMES  A 
LACK  OF  TASTE  AND  A  LOVE  OF  SHOW  IN  THE  SELECTION  AND  COM- 
BINATION OF  IDEAS  ADOPTED  FROM  AN  OUTSIDE  SOURCE. 


SECOND  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  A  VENETIAN 
ARISTOCRAT  WHOSE  COSTUME  EXPRESSES  THE  QUALITIES  WHICH 
HE  WOULD  MOST  DESIRE  TO  HAVE  MARK  HIS  TYPE. 


SECOND  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  A  RICH  HARMONY 
OF  ALL  DETAILS.  WHEN  ANALYZED  AND  DISASSOCIATED  FROM  SEX, 
CONTRIBUTES  VALUABLE  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  MODERN  USE. 


FIRST  HALF  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  SPANISH  WITH  ITALIAN 
INFLUENCE.  A  CLIMAX  OF  ARISTOCRATIC  ELEGANCE  AND  GOOD 
TASTE  WITH  DECORATIVE  QUALITY,  BEFITTING  A  PERSON  OF  NO- 
BILITY AND  CULTURE. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

kerchiefs,  and  in  the  petticoat  over  which  the  skirt  was 
parted  in  front  so  that  it  might  clearly  be  seen. 

The  most  fashionable  fabric  was  velvet.  It  was 
generally  made  up  in  combinations  of  blue,  of  white  and 
gold,  or  of  lilac  tones  with  gold  and  silver,  according  to 
the  court  party  for  whose  use  it  was  made.  Italian  and 
Eastern  patterns  were  however,  in  vogue,  particularly 
after  Catherine  was  able  to  make  her  power  felt.  Robes 
and  other  garments  were  often  lined  with  cloth  of  gold  or 
silver,  and  quantities  of  gold  buttons  were  used.  Cloth 
of  gold  damask,  satins,  and  other  silks  were  in  general 
use.  Figured  velvets  and  silk  were  copied  and  adapted 
from  a  great  variety  of  Renaissance  patterns,  mak- 
ing possible  costumes  of  great  magnificence,  particu- 
larly as  these  materials  were  used  for  both  men  and 
women. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  novelty  of  this  period  was  what 
is  known  as  the  habit  skirt,  always  of  a  delicate  and 
gorgeous  material,  such  as  Venice  cloth  of  gold  or 
silver,  or  an  exceedingly  fine  silk  muslin.  This  was 
worn  much  by  Diane  and  her  admirers. 

The  sleeves  were  not  attached  to  the  gowns,  and  were 
made  the  objects  of  especial  extravagance,  being  em- 
broidered and  otherwise  ornamented  with  gems,  furs 
and  laces.  A  three  cornered  cap  called  a  "Miniver"  of 
velvet  was  strictly  fashionable  and  a  gold  cap  called 
"Mary  Stuart"  really  appeared  in  this  reign. 

The  pages,  of  whom  there  were  many  in  attendance  at 
court  and  in  all  the  finest  palaces,  were  generally 
dressed  either  in  the  Italian  or  Spanish  fashion,  ac- 
cording to  the  taste  of  the  personage  upon  whom  they 
were  in  attendance. 

115 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

The  system  of  apprenticeship  was  general  in  trades 
and  professions.  Apprentice  boys  wore  little  blue 
gowns,  light  trousers,  and  sometimes  hose  of  white 
cloth  with  a  tiny  round  cap  of  the  same  material  upon 
their  heads. 

As  the  century  advanced  each  new  period  became  more 
individual  and  more  French,  more  and  more  the  result 
of  local  and  particular  influences  entirely  directed  by 
the  style  of  the  period,  while  the  real  ideal  of  the 
Renaissance  made  itself  less  and  less  felt;  in  fact,  the 
period  of  Henry  II  expressed  the  culmination  of  that 
idea  and  the  subsequent  periods  of  the  Valois  dynasty 
may  be  said  to  represent  the  decline  of  the  Renaissance 
or  the  gradual  transition  from  the  French  Renaissance 
to  the  French  styles,  which  began  with  Louis  XV  soon 
after  the  dawn  of  the  next  century. 

The  term  "French  Renaissance"  is  often  limited  to 
the  reign  of  Henry  II  and  the  costumes  of  that  time  are 
styled  Renaissance  costumes.  This  particular  mani- 
festation, however,  in  reality  less  French  than  the 
former  or  the  one  that  followed,  was  very  Italian,  a 
little  Spanish,  and  in  its  earlier  forms  somewhat  French 
in  feeling,  but  toward  the  end  of  the  period  the  foreign 
influences  dominated,  determining  the  style. 

Francis  II  reigned  but  a  year  (1559  to  1560)  and 
being  but  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  the 
throne,  had  practically  no  effect  upon  the  hah0  formed 
styles  which  followed  under  the  domination  of  the  rest 
of  the  Valois  line,  but  his  charming  English  queen, 
y  Stuart,  although  only  in  France  eight  months 
after  the  king's  death,  seems  to  have  been  responsible 
for  some  interesting  little  fashions,  among  which  was  the 
116 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

coif  or  gold  cap  which  bore  her  name.  This  was  first 
seen  in  the  reign  of  Francis  I  and  was  revived  and 
named  by  Mary  Stuart,  becoming  fashionable  during 
the  time  she  was  at  the  French  court.  She  had  the 
honour  also  to  have  originated  the  French  tri-colour  as 
a  livery  for  the  Swiss  guards.  The  white  represented 
the  royal  house  of  France,  the  blue  was  for  Scotland,  in 
memory  of  the  young  queen's  beloved  land,  and  the  red 
for  Switzerland,  in  compliment  to  the  men  composing 
the  guards.  This  new  guard's  livery  was  modified  and 
used  by  others,  and  so  the  idea  of  the  tri-colour  became 
permanent  and  national. 

The  costumes  of  the  period  of  Francis  I  were  but  a 
French  interpretation  of  Italian  humanism,  while  the 
French  mind  and  French  taste  were  yet  unconquered 
by  the  invasion  of  varying  ideas,  even  though  they  had 
been  universally  embraced.  The  subtleties  and  deli- 
cate imagination  of  the  native  Gaul  were  still  unspoiled, 
for  the  French  mind  was  sensitive  to  new  and  more  nor- 
mal stimuli,  even  though  there  was  excess  in  high  places. 

By  1550,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II,  over-indulgence 
in  luxury  and  too  great  sumptuousness  had  left  a  mark, 
and  costume  responded  to  the  taste  for  ornament 
and  more  ornament,  show  and  more  show,  with  a 
lessening  regard  for  the  ideals  of  decorative  beauty,  and 
for  the  fitness  of  things. 

In  architectural  ornament  there  was  a  tendency  to 
return  to  great  variety  through  combining  classic  with 
heraldic  devices.  Personal  marks  of  distinction,  East- 
ern motifs,  and  traces  of  the  grotesque  are  also  not  un-/ 
common.  Much  gilt  appeared  and  coloured  medallions 
were  in  fashion.  This  mixed  manifestation  was  re- 

117 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

fleeted  in  costumes,  fabrics  being  more  showy.  Figured 
brocades  in  velvet  and  satin  in  which  vari-coloured 
patterns  were  shown  upon  a  contrasting  background 
were  the  vogue,  while  silks  deeper  and  more  brilliant 
in  colour,  and  in  a  greater  variety  of  colours,  were 
demanded.  The  taste  for  jewels  of  Eastern  design  and 
workmanship  came  in  and  quantity  rather  than  quality 
was  favoured,  as  it  appears  to  have  been  about  once  in 
so  often  from  time  immemorial. 

Men  seem  to  have  paid  more  attention  to  apparel 
than  women,  for  it  is  frequently  recorded  that  they 
were  "gorgeously  apparelled,"  "dressed  splendidly," 
"gaudy  in  appearance"  and  otherwise  "brilliantly  got 
up."  The  garments  themselves  were  in  general  much 
the  same  in  number  and  kind  as  in  the  reign  of  Francis  I 
but  instead  of  being  confined  to  one  or  two  colours 
"men  wore  red,  green,  blue,  yellow,  and  white  satin 
with  profusions  of  gold  braid  and  lace."  The  garments 
were  slashed  and  lined  with  another  related  or  con- 
trasting colour.  They  still  wore  doublets,  slashed,  but 
very  tight.  Sleeves  were  cut  short  to  the  elbow,  with 
ruffs,  which  showed  a  much  decorated  shirt  sleeve 
below  and  at  the  wrist. 

There  was  a  profusion  of  buttons,  gold  and  silver, 
ornamented  with  gold  and  gems.  These  were  set  in 
rows  as  ornaments,  above  the  cuffs  or  pockets — in 
short,  anywhere  where  there  appeared  an  excuse  for 
ornamentation.  Even  buttonholes  were  embroidered 
and  otherwise  ornamented. 

The  shoes  were  a  sort  of  slipper  with  a  high  heel, 
and  trunk  hose  were  still  popular.  Hats  were  of  vel- 
vet and  other  soft  material  decorated  with  a  flowing 
118 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

plume.  One  quite  distinguishing  feature  was  the 
vogue  of  the  lawn  necktie  tied  in  a  huge  bow  at  the 
back,  and  having  long  flowing  ends  of  lace. 

It  is  notable  that  horses  were  dressed  in  the  same 
gorgeous  manner.  The  trappings  were  of  finest  velvet 
embroidered  in  colours  and  in  gold,  and  reaching  to 
the  very  ground.  This  custom  added  to  the  gorgeous 
spectacle  of  the  gentlemen,  particularly  at  the  field  game, 
"Tilting"  which  was  very  popular,  and  at  the  "Tour- 
nay"  where  the  finest  appearance  was  made  for  the 
purpose  of  amusing  and  entertaining  the  ladies,  who 
were  interested  spectators,  furnishing  the  real  reason  for 
organizing  the  games.  The  king  was  an  expert  at 
both  exercises,  and  it  was  on  one  of  these  occasions 
that  he  received  his  death  wound. 

The  costumes  of  women  were  less  extreme  and  by 
comparison  less  showy.  This  may  have  been  due  some- 
what to  the  influential  part  played  by  Diane  de 
Poitiers,  in  determining  the  styles  for  women,  she  her- 
self adhering  throughout  her  life  to  "fine  stuffs,  simple 
designs,  and  a  taste  for  the  best  in  art." 

The  Queen,  Catherine  de'  Medici,  was  always  partial 
to  crimson,  particularly  to  crimson  velvet.  This  col- 
our became  so  universally  admired  that  a  law  was 
passed  forbidding  any  woman  not  a  princess  to  wear  a 
gown  wholly  of  crimson.  No  man  might  wear  more 
than  one  article  of  dress  of  this  colour,  and  attending 
ladies  were  limited  to  other  colours,  including  what  was 
known  as  "ordinary  red." 

The  bourgeoisie  rebelled  at  the  magnificence  of  the 
court,  and  the  lord  gave  them  permission  to  wear  gold 
bands  on  their  heads  with  jewelled  belts  and  necklaces 

119 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

of  gold.  They  were  apparently  appeased,  for  a  year 
later  we  find  the  lower  classes  clamouring  to  be  allowed 
to  wear  the  same,  including  lace  and  silk  petticoats. 
This  was  refused  them  but  they  were  instead  given 
leave  to  edge  their  robes  with  lace  and  to  participate 
otherwise  in  the  orgy  of  "being  fashionable."  The 
spirit  of  1920  shows  no  change,  but  the  road  to  a 
complete  fulfillment  of  the  desire  is  easier;  hence  the 
wonderful  spectacle  of  everybody  trying  to  do  the  same 
thing  in  all  places,  with  all  kinds  of  materials  at  the 
same  time. 

The  periods  of  Charles  IX  (1560  to  1574)  and  Henry 
III,  "the  last  of  the  Valois"  (1574  to  1589),  comprise 
thirty  years  of  gradual  decline  in  culture,  art,  and  man- 
ners. This  is  not  of  great  interest  here  except  as  it 
points  to  certain  routes  or  tendencies  which,  culmin- 
ating at  the  time  the  Valois  line  became  extinct,  ac- 
complished the  complete  destruction  of  the  Renaissance 
as  an  institution  in  France.  The  disorganization  of 
church  influence,  the  breakdown  of  royal  power,  the 
rise  of  the  bourgeoisie,  and  the  debasement  of  court 
life,  may  be  cited  as  among  the  tendencies.  Further 
reasons  for  this  state  of  things  were  the  decline  of  Italian 
influence,  attributable  to  Spanish  power,  the  growth 
and  spread  of  Protestantism  in  France,  the  excesses  of 
the  court,  and  the  injustices  heaped  upon  the  masses  to 
satisfy  an  increasing  demand  for  luxury,  show,  and 
amusement,  while  the  monarch  neglected  important 
domestic  and  international  complications. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  Charles  IX  that  the  massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew  (August  24,  1572)  took  place. 
This  event  throws  light  on  the  state  of  the  people  and 
120 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

shows  what  had  been  foremost  in  their  thought  for  a 
decade  or  two  previous.  It  should  be  noted  here  that 
Henry  of  Navarre  (afterward  Henri  IV)  escaped  death 
at  this  time  only  by  consenting  to  attend  mass  in  the 
royal  chapel.  The  religious  wars,  of  which  this  inci- 
dent was  the  culmination,  influenced  costumes  and  jf 
Charles  himself,  weak,  imaginative,  lazy,  and  volup- 
tuous, dressed  in  Venetian  fashion,  wearing  a  heavily 
plumed  hat.  He  had  as  his  constant  companion  an 
Italian  greyhound.  This  choice  may  indicate  the 
Italian  influences  that  affected  Charles,  and  one  is 
led  to  compare  them  with  those  that  appealed  to 
Francis  I,  to  Henry  II,  and  later  to  Henry  III,  for  an 
indication  of  the  state  of  mind  of  him  who  held  the 
guiding  hand  in  social  and  cultural  matters. 

A  peculiar  fashion  for  women  was  the  adoption  of 
the  doublet,  which  they  buttoned  right  up  to  the 
shoulder  in  "a  most  masculine  manner."  They  en- 
larged skirts,  wearing  them  "long  and  sweeping." 
The  stomacher  was  peaked,  the  ruff  about  their  neck 
was  so  large  and  so  high,  that  from  behind  no  head  could 
be  seen  at  all.  The  Queen,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Maximilian  of  Austria,  probably  contributed  no  con- 
siderable amount  of  taste  to  the  costumes  of  the  court 
at  this  time. 

The  Turkish  turban  was  adopted  and  worn  without 
a  veil  ordinarily,  but  there  is  a  record  of  a  royal  wedding 
at  which  it  was  worn  even  with  the  bridal  veil  "hanging 
down  to  the  ground."  Some  of  the  gowns  were  split 
in  front  exposing  embroidered  petticoats  of  silk  velvet. 
Great  sleeves  full  at  the  shoulder  "fixed  with  rosettes," 
fell,  leaving  part  of  the  arms  bare. 

121 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

The  costumes  of  the  gentlemen  had  toward  the  end 
of  the  reign  become  somewhat  less  "rich  and  ostenta- 
tious," but  as  another  authority  has  it,  were  "more  ele- 
gant and  refined."  Doublets  were  cut  perfectly  to  fit 
the  figure,  long  waisted,  with  skirts  to  the  knees,  tight 
sleeves  with  ruffles  at  the  neck  and  at  the  wrists. 
"Everybody  wore  rosettes."  Colours  were  lighter; 
white,  pink,  sky-blue  and  tawny  yellow  being  most  used. 
These  silks,  satins,  and  taffeta  supplanted  velvets  and 
heavy  brocades.  Gold  and  silk  ornaments  were  pre- 
ferred. Venetian  hose  with  rosettes  and  a  "two-part" 
hose,  the  lower  a  real  hose,  and  the  upper  like  skin  tight 
breeches,  were  a  distinguishing  feature.  These  were 
very  high  priced,  often  costing  from  sixty  to  one  hun- 
dred pounds  a  pair.  Outer  garments,  coats,  and  caps  of 
velvet  or  heavy  damask  are  described  as  dark  and  rich 
in  colour  which  may  be  accounted  for  when  we  remem- 
ber that  men  were  greatly  influenced  by  the  Spanish 
fashions.  A  hat  with  a  wide  gold  jewelled  band  and 
heavy  plume  was  most  popular  and  was  worn  with  long 
beards  and  long  hair;  not  a  matter  of  consistency  surely, 
but  one  of  fashion's  delusions,  crystallized. 

It  is  worth  while  here  to  remember  where  fashion 
had  its  origin,  how  it  was  influenced  by  the  temper  of 
the  public  as  well  as  how  the  fashion  was  brought  out, 
and  how  thorough  were  the  methods  of  making  it  uni- 
versally popular. 

Symptoms  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II  became  diseases 
in  that  of  Charles  IX  and  apparently  incurable  ones 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  III,  the  last  of  the  Valois  kings. 
For  indescribable  peculiarities,  fancies,  and  follies  this 
man,  of  all  the  French  kings,  seems  the  most  baffling. 
122 


SECOND  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  ENGLISH.  CON- 
TRAST WITH  THE  PRECEDING  ILLUSTRATION  FOR  THE  QUALITIES 
SEEN  THERE. 


SECOND  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  ELE- 
GANCE, RICHNESS,  AND  THE  QUALITY  OF  DECORATION  WELL  EX- 
PRESSED. COMPARE  WITH  THE  TWO  PRECEDING  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FOR  TASTE  EXPRESSION. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

A  constant  companion  of  "innumerable  parrots,  ma- 
caws, and  cockatoes"  which  were  arranged  about  his 
rooms  in  cages  with  "apes  and  monkeys"  in  other  en- 
closures, not  to  mention  dogs  and  the  most  profligate 
of  his  courtiers,  he  was  ill  prepared  to  contribute  an 
absolute  monarch's  share  to  the  culture  and  refinement 
of  the  social  expression  of  his  period.  His  weakness 
and  inattention  to  court  duties,  however,  left  the  finer 
elements  in  his  realm  greater  liberty  for  self-expression, 
and  consequently  a  better  chance  to  make  their  influ- 
ence effective,  for  we  read  that  "the  costumes  were  in 
better  taste  than  formerly."  Catherine,  the  queen- 
mother,  never  lost  her  Italian  tendencies  and  tastes, 
and  the  weakness  of  character  of  the  son  who  reigned 
made  her  influence  felt  the  more.  She  herself  always 
dressed  after  the  death  of  her  royal  spouse  in  a  black 
velvet,  close-fitting  dress  with  "full  and  flowing  skirt," 
her  head  being  entirely  covered  with  black  silk  and 
black  lace.  This  sombre  effect  had,  however,  no  ap- 
parent influence  upon  the  court. 

The  Due  de  Sully  tells  of  a  visit  to  the  king  when  "he 
found  him  in  his  closet;  a  sword  was  by  his  side,  a  short 
cloak  on  his  shoulders,  a  little  turban  on  his  head,  and 
about  his  neck  was  hung  a  basket  in  which  were  two  or 
three  lap  dogs  no  bigger  than  my  fist."  He  usually 
wore  a  black  velvet  doublet  with  black  fringe.  His  cap 
had  a  large  diamond  set  in  front  and  it  was  always  or- 
namented with  a  white  feather.  The  inattention  of 
the  king  to  details  of  dress,  the  simplicity  of  the  cos- 
tumes of  the  dowager  queen,  the  fatigued  state  of  the 
court  from  the  excesses  of  flippant  dress  in  the  pre- 
ceding reign  perhaps  contributed,  each  a  little,  to  a  saner 

123 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

condition,  for  we  find  several  authorities  mentioning  the 
fact  that  "dress  in  general  was  simpler  and  lighter" 
and  that  "less  desire  was  shown  for  over-ornamenta- 
tion" and  for  heavy  materials. 

A  decided  change  appears  to  have  taken  place  and 
less  stress  was  put  upon  the  style  of  men's  clothing 
while  greater  regard  for  taste  was  expected  on  the  part 
of  the  women. 

Particular  mention  is  made  of  the  hair,  which  was 
now  brushed  back  from  the  forehead  and  sometimes 
"curled  and  frizzled"  in  a  style  called  "Mary  Stuart." 
This  queen  seems  to  have  had  a  very  lasting  influence 
on  the  mannerisms  of  at  least  two  reigns,  after  her  de- 
parture for  England. 

All  great  ladies  wore  masks  "a  la  Venise"  in  the 
streets  and  in  public  places.  People  carried  mirrors 
in  their  hands  and  sometimes  hung  two  or  three  about 
their  persons,  while  other  toilet  articles  were  found  in 
bags  suspended  from  the  waist,  a  fashion  reproduced  by 
the  ladies  of  our  time  in  the  modern  theatre,  hotel 
dining  room,  or  other  public  places. 

Extravagances  in  rings,  earrings,  bracelets,  and  head 
ornaments  are  mentioned  so  often  that  we  sometimes 
wonder  where  the  decrease  in  ornament  was  found,  and 
what  could  have  been  the  state  of  things  before.  We 
read  also  that  the  year  before  the  assassination  of  the 
king  it  took  twenty  yards  of  the  finest  stuffs  to  make  a 
dress,  and  that  the  "price  was  something  fearful." 
There  were  shoes  and  slippers,  too,  in  Venetian  and  in 
Spanish  style,  the  former  in  velvet,  the  latter  in  leather. 

One  other  period  feature  should  be  remembered  that 
is  military  or  political  in  its  nature.  Protestant  soldiers 
124 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

wore  white  jackets  and  white  scarfs,  while  the  Catholics 
always  wore  crimson.  This  shows  how  naturally  re- 
ligious predilection  reacts  upon  costume. 

Henry  III  was  assassinated  in  1589  with  but  a  de- 
cade of  the  century  uncompleted,  a  century  in  which  a 
great  institution,  foreign  in  its  inception,  had  been  ac- 
cepted and  interpreted  by  an  alien  people  who  had  tasted 
its  charms  and  experienced  its  possibilities.  Now 
though  the  body  was  dead,  the  spirit,  becoming  a  part  of 
the  ever  accumulating  consciousness  of  France,  in- 
fluenced and  always  will  influence  her  life  and  its 
expression. 

After  having  traced  the  course  of  the  Renaissance  in 
Italy,  where  it  was  indigenous,  and  in  France,  a  country 
that  adopted  it  in  the  most  whole-hearted  manner, 
it  is  perhaps  superfluous,  in  this  brief  sketch  of  so 
stupendous  a  force,  to  attempt  to  consider  it  under 
any  other  national  conditions,  yet  it  seems  impossible 
to  account  for  ourselves  as  a  product  of  it  unless  we  at 
least  follow  its  introduction  into  England,  and  suggest 
briefly  the  lines  of  its  development  there. 

It  was  no  uncommon  thing  in  the  fifteenth  century 
to  hear  of  England  as  "that  barbarous  country,"  or  of 
the  English  as  "the  barbarians  of  England,"  when  the 
people  were  seen  through  Italian,  Spanish,  or  French 
eyes.  The  Anglo-Saxon's  sturdiness,  practicality,  do- 
mestic traditions,  and  economic  development,  by  com- 
parison with  the  culture,  polite  refinements,  and  luxur- 
ious amusements  of  the  other  countries  no  doubt  gave 
some  justification  to  this  estimate;  yet  these  very  qual- 
ities were  the  bed-rock  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  and 
therefore  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Renaissance  was 

125 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

by  them  to  be  expressed.  England's  material  body 
was  practically  unimpaired  by  experiment  or  .excess. 
She  was  committed  by  centuries  to  thinking^in  terms  of 
isolated  self-sufficiency,  where  the  leading  motive  of 
thought  and  action  was  self-preservation  in  its  broadest 
sense,  instead  of  the  cultured  refinements  of  a  sensuous 
existence,  or  of  a  carefully  trained  intellectual  develop- 
ment. Their  domestic  ideals  were  correspondingly 
simple  and  of  a  somewhat  more  mediaeval  or  primitive 
intent,  while  their  contact  with  other  qjxiilljations  was 
(by  virtue  of  their  geographic  position) .  v£ry  slight  as 
compared  with  the  intercourse  carried  bh^at  the  same 
time  between  the  other  countries  mentioned; 

All  this  left  England  with  a  well-fora*ed,  healthy 
body,  a  clean  and  rugged,  though  rather  primitive 
intellect,  an  undeveloped  aesthetic  sense,  and  a  spirit- 
ual sense,  not  wholly  associated  with  or  committed  to 
particular  symbols,  and  less  associated  with  the  humani- 
ties. This  was  quite  a  different  consciousness,  to 
which  the  Renaissance  was  to  be  introduced,  from  any 
other  we  have  seen,  and  perhaps  this  may  be  the  best 
place  to  stop  an  instant  to  see  how  the  new  idea  of  cul- 
ture (both  intellectual  and  emotional)  failed  to  make 
its  appeal  in  the  same  way,  or  to  produce  results  in  the 
same  field  as  it  did  in  France.  The  first  real  result  of 
this  institution  in  England  was  a  literary  one  instead 
of  an  architectural  or  decorative  one.  This  great  liter- 
ary period  known  as  the  Revival  of  Letters,  or  the  Eliza- 
bethan Era,  manifests  at  every  step  of  its  evolution  the 
development  of  humanism  as  English  mind  sensed  its 
meaning,  and  its  possibilities.  Tracing  the  Renais- 
sance in  this  field  has  no  place  here,  but  the  reader  who 
126 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

investigates  the  subject  will  find  one  of  the  most  fascin- 
ating and  the  most  illuminating  pages  in  the  psychology 
of  life  and  in  the  expression  of  the  ideal  of  humanism. 

We  get  in  the  reign  of  Richard  III  (1483  to  1485)  the 
first  faint  hint  that  an  outside  glory  was  to  come  in  the 
costumes  of  the  sixteenth  century.  "Figured  materi-  * 
als  from  Italy"  in  rare  instances  found  their  way  into 
England.  The  pineapple  pattern  appeared,  as  did 
other  strange  motifs  from  the  same  source.  The  men 
were  still  clean  shaven  and  wore  their  hair  long.  They 
had  developed  open  breasted  tunics  with  pleated  skirts, 
while  hats  of  black  velvet  with  stiff  brims  were  the 
vogue,  as  were  also  very  blunt  shoes.  The  low  neck 
of  the  tunic  showed  a  sort  of  waistcoat  of  some  fine 
material,  generally  of  a  brilliant  colour.  Garments  of 
the  great  barons  were  trimmed  with  black  velvet,  but 
peasants  wore  a  loose  tunic  opened  and  laced  in  front 
with  a  belt  and  a  hood  of  coarse  cloth. 

Women  wore  full  skirts,  a  high  waist  with  tight 
sleeves  and  ruffs  of  black  velvet,  and  a  long  belt  some- 
times reaching  to  the  ground.  The  head-dress  which 
had  for  centuries  been  so  important,  being  universally 
worn  with  so  many  queer  inventions,  had  been  ex- 
ploited in  the  shape  of  the  wimple,  the  horns,  stiff  tur- 
bans, box-like  shapes  of  gold,  the  hennin,  and  now  a 
stiff  bonnet  which  stuck  out  at  the  back  stretched  on 
stiff  wires.  Under  all  this  the  hair  had  always  been 
securely  hidden,  but  after  the  adoption  of  the  triangular 
bonnet  of  the  next  period,  hair  as  the  "  crowning 
glory  of  woman"  came  into  its  own.  This  may  be  con- 
sidered the  last  definite  period  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
for  the  period  of  Henry  VII  showed  but  the  development 

127 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

of  these  ideas,  their  culmination  and  the  birth  of  the 
new  ideas  of  the  next  century. 

Henry  VII  came  to  the  throne  in  1485,  two  years  after 
Charles  VIII  of  France,  so  that  his  reign,  to  1509,  cov- 
ered practically  the  same  period  as  that  of  Charles  VIII 
and  Louis  XII  of  France.  It  was  Mary,  daughter  of 
Henry  VII  and  third  wife  of  Louis  XII,  who  by  her 
marriage  opened  in  a  limited  way  an  avenue  of  relation- 
ship with  the  French  court  life,  which  no  doubt  influ- 
enced in  some  degree  the  English  styles.  It  was  in 
this  reign  that  Arthur  Tudor,  brother  of  Henry  VIII, 
married  Catherine  of  Aragon,  a  Spanish  princess  who 
later  became  the  wife  of  Henry  VIII  and  Queen  of 
England.  This  king  was  contemporary  with,  and  an 
associate  of  Francis  I.  One  incident,  that  known  as 
"The  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,"  will  in  some  measure 
recall  this  association. 

This  connection  and  the  later  marriage  of  Mary 
Stuart  with  Francis  II  formed  important  means  for  the 
introduction  of  such  social  ideas  and  practices  as  were 
adopted,  or  modified  and  absorbed,  by  the  English 
court  during  the  sixteenth  century,  although  these  in- 
fluences never  made  much  of  a  general  showing  until 
the  days  of  Charles  I,  whose  court  went  over  to  French 
social  manners  and  customs  as  fast  and  as  fully  as  his 
native  material  would  permit. 

Of  the  great  houses  built  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII 
there  need  be  no  enumeration  here,  we  are  all  too  fa- 
miliar with  them  and  their  practical,  clean,  picturesque- 
ness,  to  make  that  necessary.  Psychologically  it  is 
interesting  to  see  them  in  comparison  as  to  their  classic 
or  aesthetic  quality  with  those  of  France  under  Francis 
128 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

I.  No  one  would  question  the  charm  of  these  old 
English  houses  for  a  moment,  but  their  fascination  is 
rather  one  of  uniqueness,  romance,  and  picturesque- 
ness,  than  of  intellectual  classic  proportions,  or  of  emo- 
tional aesthetic  values.  England's  notions  regarding 
domestic  conveniences,  picturesque  ceremonial,  out- 
of-door  life,  and  home  traditions,  were  altogether  too 
ingrained  to  be  greatly  affected  by  the  introduction  of  a 
new  idea  in  domestic  forms  of  life. 

We  are  reminded,  however,  of  our  debt  of  gratitude 
to  England,  that  while  Louis  XII  and  even  his  succes- 
sor saw  to  it  that  coupled  with  each  great  chateau 
and  palace  was  a  private  chapel,  of  such  proportion 
and  design  that  it  became  a  beautiful  as  well  as  an 
essential  part  of  the  family  life,  the  great  homes  of 
England  were  working  out  for  us  at  the  same  time,  the 
essentials  of  culinary  social  expression  in  so  perfect  a 
manner  as  to  require  in  many  instances  a  whole  separate 
adjacent  building  for  the  kitchens,  while  the  problems 
of  pantries  and  cupboards  were  being  solved  with  suf- 
ficient skill  to  become  a  permanent  contribution. 

Of  the  furnishings  of  homes  at  the  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  VII  Hallam  says:  "But  if  the  domestic 
buildings  of  the  fifteenth  century  would  not  seem  very 
spacious  or  convenient  at  present,  far  less  would  this 
luxurious  generation  be  content  with  their  internal 
accommodations.  A  gentleman's  house  containing 
three  or  four  beds  was  extraordinarily  well  provided; 
few  probably  had  more  than  two.  The  walls  were 
commonly  bare,  without  wainscot  or  even  plaster;  ex- 
cept that  some  great  houses  were  furnished  with  hang- 
ings. It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  neither  libraries  of 

129 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

books  nor  pictures  could  have  found  a  place  among  fur- 
niture. Silver  plate  was  very  rare,  and  hardly  used  for 
the  table.  A  few  inventories  of  furniture  that  still 
remain  exhibit  a  miserable  deficiency.  And  this  was 
incomparably  greater  in  private  gentlemen's  houses 
than  among  citizens,  and  especially  foreign  to  Contar- 
ini,  a  rich  Venetian  trader,  at  his  house  in  St.  Botolph's 
Lane,  A.D.  1481.  There  appear  to  have  been  no  less 
than  ten  beds,  and  glass  windows  are  especially  noticed 
as  moveable  furniture.  No  mention,  however,  is  made 
of  chairs  or  looking-glasses.  If  we  compare  this  ac- 
count however  trifling  in  our  estimation,  with  a  similar 
inventory  of  furniture  in  Skipton  Castle,  the  great 
honour  of  the  earls  of  Cumberland,  and  among  the 
most  splendid  mansions  of  the  north,  not  at  the  same 
period,  for  I  have  not  found  any  inventory  of  a  noble- 
man's furniture  so  ancient,  but  in  1572,  after  almost  a 
century  of  continual  improvement,  we  shall  be  aston- 
ished at  the  inferior  provision  of  the  baronial  residence. 
There  were  not  more  than  seven  or  eight  beds  in  this 
great  castle,  nor  had  any  of  the  chambers  either  chairs, 
glasses,  or  carpets." 

These  conditions  continued  practically  unchanged  until 
some  time  after  the  accession  of  Henry  VIII  in  1509. 

Of  the  details  of  costumes  during  the  period  from  1485 
to  1509  we  are  told  not  a  little.  It  seems  that  elegance 
and  luxury  were  so  much  in  evidence  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  fourteenth  century  that  very  strict  sumptuary 
laws  were  passed,  but  in  the  first  three  quarters  of  the 
fifteenth  century  domestic  and  foreign  affairs,  the 
Wars  of  the  Roses,  and  other  causes  prevented  extrav- 
agance and  display  in  clothing. 
130 


FIRST  HALF  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  CONTRAST 
WITH  THE  PRECEDING  ILLUSTRATION  FOR  THE  QUALITIES  DISCUSSED. 
THE  CONCLUSIONS  ARE  ILLUMINATING. 


MIDDLE  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  FLORENTINE.  THE  COM- 
PELLING CHARM  OF  GOOD  BREEDING  AND  CULTURE  IS  SEEN  NOT 
ONLY  IN  THE  GREAT  LADY  HERSELF  BUT  IN  HER  COSTUME,  WHICH 
TRULY  EXPRESSES  HER. 


LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  EXCEPT 
FOR  MINOR  DETAILS  THIS  MIGHT  EASILY  BE  TAKEN  FOR  A  NINE- 
TEENTH CENTURY  COSTUME  INSTEAD  OF  BELONGING  TO  MARIE  DE 
MEDICI. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

History  relates  that  the  policy  of  Henry  VII  was  to 
collect  sufficient  treasure  to  defend  himself  without 
borrowing,  but  that  he  was  at  heart  a  dreamer,  lover 
of  books  and  of  art,  and  that  through  his  personal  taste 
he  made  possible  the  "Revival  of  Letters"  and  the 
growth  of  culture  under  Henry  VIII.  We  might  also 
add  in  this  connection  that  he  instituted  that  imple- 
ment of  tyranny  called  "The  Court  of  the  Star  Cham- 
ber," no  doubt  the  greatest  single  assistance  to  Henry 
VIII  in  establishing  an  absolute  monarchy,  which  made 
possible  the  birth  and  crystallization  of  an  important 
art  period  during  his  reign. 

In  sensing  the  Renaissance  flavour  in  English  life  of 
the  sixteenth  century  it  is  well  perhaps  to  compare 
for  a  moment  the  spirit  of  the  "Revival  of  Letters"  here, 
in  its  more  moral,  more  religious,  more  practical  con- 
tribution to  society  and  politics,  with  that  of  Italy  or 
France,  founded  as  it  was  in  those  countries  on  literary 
classics,  platonic  love,  religious  scepticism,  and  sense 
enjoyment.  A  real  investigation  in  this  field,  however, 
would  not  be  possible  here.  One  can  only  point  out 
the  qualities  apparently  dominating  in  each  mani- 
festation, and  consider  those  qualities  in  estimating 
the  general  character  of  the  Renaissance  in  England. 

In  making  this  comparison  the  letters  written  by 
Francesco  Chiericati  to  Isabella  d'Este  are  a  material 
aid.  As  papal  nuncio  this  prelate  was  sent  by  Pope 
Leo  on  many  important  occasions  to  foreign  courts. 
Being  a  loyal  adherent  of  the  Duchess  he  kept  her  con- 
stantly informed  of  his  experiences  and  his  impressions 
of  the  lives  and  doings  of  the  people  whom  he  visited. 
Writing  to  her  from  the  court  of  Henry  VIII  in  1516  he 

131 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

informs  her  that  he  could  not  contain  his  amazement  at 
the  "high  degree  of  civilization  and  culture  which  he 
found  in  this  barbarous  land."  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam 
declared  that  "the  English  court  contained  more  per- 
sonages of  real  knowledge  and  ability  than  any  univer- 
sity in  Europe."  Let  us  remember  that  this  does  not 
establish  the  fact  that  these  cultured  people  were  all  of 
English  birth,  but  it  is  illuminating  as  testifying  to  the 
virility  of  the  English  mind  in  its  relation  to  books  and 
to  general  culture,  judged  not  only  by  the  stern  stand- 
ards of  Erasmus  but  subject  also  to  the  riper  sensuous 
measurement  of  the  sophisticated  Chiericati,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  following  description,  in  which  some  of 
his  comments  are  quoted : 

"In  June  1517,  Count  Jacques  de  Luxembourg,  ac- 
companied by  several  Spanish  courtiers  and  prelates, 
arrived  in  London  on  an  embassy  from  Charles  V,  to 
invite  Henry  to  join  in  a  new  league  with  him  and  the 
Emperor.  The  nuncio  was  present  at  the  magnificent 
reception  given  to  these  envoys  by  the  King,  who  wore 
a  sumptuous  robe  of  cloth  of  gold,  in  the  Hungarian 
style,  while  his  nobles  were  all  clad  in  gold  brocade, 
and  wore  the  finest  chains  and  collars  which  Chieri- 
cati had  ever  seen.  A  week  of  festivities  followed; 
banquets  were  given  by  the  Cardinal  and  Lord  Mayor, 
and  one  day  the  King  invited  the  ambassadors  and  the 
nuncio  to  dine  privately  with  him  in  the  Queen's  rooms. 
'This,  I  am  told,  is  a  very  unusual  thing,'  remarks  the 
writer.  'The  King  himself  sang  and  played  all  kinds 
of  different  instruments  with  rare  talent,  and  then 
danced,  and  made  the  Count  dance,  and  gave  him  a 
fine  horse  with  rich  trappings,  and  a  vest  of  gold  brocade 
132 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

trimmed  with  sables,  wroth  700  ducats.  On  St. 
Peter's  Day,'  continues  Chiericati,  'all  the  ambassa- 
dors of  the  league  went  to  court,  and  the  King  heard 
mass  in  the  Capella  Grande  below,  and  wore  his  royal 
robes  of  brocade  and  ermine,  and  a  train  resplendent 
with  jewels,  carried  by  pages.'  But  the  finest  sight  of 
all  was  the  tournament  held  on  the  Feast  of  the  Trans- 
lation of  St.  Thomas  at  Canterbury,  in  a  piazza  three 
times  as  large  as  that  of  S.  Pietro  of  Mantua,  surrounded 
by  walls,  with  tiers  of  seats  occupied  by  thousands  of 
spectators,  with  two  great  pavillions  of  cloth  of  gold  on 
either  side.  The  King  appeared  on  horseback  in  a 
white  damask  surcoat,  embroidered  with  his  device 
of  roses  in  rubies  and  diamonds,  with  a  helmet  on  his 
head,  and  a  richly  jewelled  breastplate  valued  at  300,000 
ducats.  He  was  followed  by  forty  knights  on  white 
horses,  with  bridles  and  harness  of  pure  silver,  worked 
in  niello  with  the  King's  and  Queen's  initials  and  devices, 
upon  which  all  the  goldsmiths  in  the  city  had  been  em- 
ployed for  the  last  four  months.  'The  Duke  of  Sur- 
folk  (Suforche  in  the  nuncio's  spelling)  rode  out  at  the 
head  of  a  similar  troop  from  the  opposite  pavillion, 
and  when  he  met  the  King  in  single  fight,  we  seemed 
to  see  Hector  and  Achilles.  After  this  encounter  the 
King  took  off  his  armour  and  appeared  in  blue  velvet, 
embroidered  with  gold  bells,  attended  by  twenty-four 
pages  in  the  same  livery,  and  rode  before  the  Queen  on 
a  very  tall  white  horse,  prancing  and  leaping  as  it  went, 
and  when  he  had  tired  out  one  horse,  he  went  back  to 
his  tent  and  mounted  another.' 

"The  banquet  which  followed  in  the  Palace  of  White- 
hall was  on  a  magnificent  scale;  the  gold  and  silver  plate 

133 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

piled  on  the  sideboard  was  worth  a  king's  ransom,  and 
every  variety  of  meat,  poultry,  game,  and  fish  was 
served  at  table.  All  the  dishes  were  borne  before  the 
King  by  figures  of  elephants,  panthers,  tigers,  and 
other  animals,  admirably  designed;  but  the  finest  things 
in  Chiericati's  eyes  were  the  jellies  made  in  the  shape  of 
castles,  towers,  churches,  and  animals  of  every  variety, 
'as  beautiful  and  closely  copied  as  possible.'  'To  sum 
up,'  he  adds,  'most  illustrious  Madama,  here  in  Eng- 
land we  find  all  the  wealth  and  delights  in  the  world. 
Those  who  call  the  English  barbarians  are  themselves 
barbarians!  Here  we  see  magnificent  costumes,  rare 
virtues,  and  the  finest  courtesy.  And,  best  of  all, 
here  we  have  this  invincible  King,  who  is  endowed  with 
so  many  excellent  virtues  that  he  seems  to  me  to  sur- 
pass all  others  who  wear  a  crown  in  these  times.  Blessed 
and  happy  is  the  country  which  is  ruled  by  so  worthy 
and  excellent  a  prince!  I  would  rather  live  under  his 
mild  and  gentle  sway  than  enjoy  the  greatest  freedom 
under  any  other  form  of  government!" 

Writing  again  to  Isabella,  Chiericati  describes  a  visit 
to  Ireland  and  expresses  his  astonishment  at  finding 
things  so  simple,  so  cheap,  and  so  different  from  Eng- 
land, which  was  very  close  by.  Of  the  people  there  he 
tells  her  that  they  live  on  oat  cake  and  drink  milk  and 
water,  that  the  men  are  closely  shaven  except  the  chin, 
that  they  wear  cloth  shirts  dipped  in  saffron,  shoes  with- 
out stockings,  and  a  gray  cloak  with  a  felt  hat.  The 
women,  according  to  his  account,  are  white  and  beauti- 
ful but  very  dirty.  They  wear  the  same  saffron  col- 
oured shirts  with  white  caps  on  their  heads.  He  calls 
them  very  religious,  though  they  do  not  hold  it  wrong 
134 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

to  steal.  He  also  relates  that  in  the  northern  part  they 
go  naked  and  live  in  caverns  eating  raw  meat. 

By  the  second  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
monarchy  was  absolute.  Prepossessing  in  appearance, 
merry  and  debonair,  Henry  VIII  had  won  the  favour 
of  those  foreign  diplomats  and  artists  who  came  to 
the  English  court.  Genial,  commanding,  and  forward 
looking  in  matters  of  state,  his  own  people  rallied  around 
his  ideals,  glad  of  something  to  take  the  place  of  the 
half  stagnant  medievalism  which  had  characterized 
the  last  century.  The  story  of  his  love  and  enthusiasm 
for  the  new  culture,  his  patronage  of  its  manifestations 
as  it  came  to  him  inspired  by  the  court  of  Isabella  at 
Mantua,  and  of  his  complete  surrender  to  the  appetites 
and  senses,  furnishes  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ex- 
amples of  living  the  whole  possibilities  of  the  Renais- 
sance in  less  than  half  a  century. 

While  a  good  deal  of  concrete  material  is  available 
concerning  the  fashions  that  prevailed,  it  lacks  inter- 
est, as  everything  is  likely  to  that  relates  to  what  is 
copied  rather  than  evolved.  The  people  of  the  country 
were  past  masters  even  then  at  seizing  an  accomplished 
result  and  making  it  practical,  without  ever  having 
experienced  the  process  of  its  creation. 

The  court  very  early  grasped  the  idea  that  a  new 
world  had  been  opened  up  by  the  discoveries  of  Colum- 
bus and  it  soon  had  its  Cabots  looking  into  the  matter. 
Printing  and  other  inventions  were  making  informa- 
tion more  accessible  and  bringing  nations  into  closer 
touch.  Customs  and  manners  unheard  of  in  the  last 
century  became  common  to  all,  as  did  also  fashions 
and  the  possibilities  for  personal  exploitation  which 

135 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

they  afforded.  "Venetian  modes,"  "Italian  fashions, 
a  la  Diane  de  Poitiers,"  and  "things  in  Spanish  taste/9 
richest  velvets  and  gorgeous  silks  from  Italy,  finest 
linens  from  France  and  Flanders,  jewels  and  gems  from 
the  East,  and  various  other  materials  as  well  as  cus- 
toms were  taken  on  apparently  without  a  question  of 
their  source  or  meaning,  owing  to  a  newly  quickened 
national  consciousness.  The  great  difference  between 
its  ways  and  those  of  France  seemed  to  be  that  in  Eng- 
land what  resulted  from  the  Renaissance  was  accepted 
and  adopted  with  keen  relish  by  the  aristocracy,  while 
in  France  ideas  were  absorbed  and  then  incorporated 
into  the  life  of  the  people  producing  results  similar 
in  some  ways  to  those  of  Italy  or  Spain  whence  the  ideas 
were  taken,  though  in  other  cases  an  adaptation  was 
made  which  was,  in  general  feeling,  quite  different.  As 
this  makes  the  grand  costumes  of  this  period  less  inter- 
esting to  discuss  in  detail,  the  larger  part  of  our  sym- 
pathy is  due  to  England's  interesting  "Revival  of  Let- 
ters," its  open  response  to  the  advent  of  culture,  its 
rapidly  maturing  development  of  culinary  art,  and  its 
evident  delight  in  it  all,  leaving  the  inventions  of  art 
and  fashion  to  those  nations  to  whom  nature  has  given 
the  necessary  equipment.  A  lady  of  rank  writes  of  the 
costumes  of  Henry  VIII  at  the  time  of  his  coronation 
as  follows:  "On  the  day  of  his  coronation  Henry's  dress 
was  splendid  in  the  extreme;  his  coat  was  literally 
embossed  with  gold;  the  placardo  covered  with 
every  kind  of  precious  stone;  the  bandrech  on  his  neck 
with  balesses,  and  the  mantle  of  crimson  velvet  was 
lined  with  ermine.  His  queen  wore  a  long  gown  of  em- 
broidered white  satin,  and  her  hair,  like  that  of  Queen 
136 


V 
THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

Anne,  hung  down  her  back."  This  "pride  of  hair" 
as  it  was  called,  or  the  new  fashion  of  exposing  the  hair, 
and  "unduly  and  extravagantly  plaiting,  bowing,  comb- 
ing, and  bejewelling  it,"  grew  in  favour  from  this  date. 
A  new  material  element  was  in  this  way  liberated  for 
purposes  of  decoration  and  for  increasing  personal  at- 
traction.   n 

At  the  meeting  of  Francis  I  and  Henry  VIII  on  the 
Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  the  latter  is  described  as 
"habited"  in  a  garment  composed  of  cloth  of  gold  over  a 
jacket  of  rose-coloured  velvet.  "His  collar  was  com- 
posed of  rubies  and  pearls  set  in  alternate  rows,  and  on 
his  breast  hung  a  rich  jewel  of  St.  George  suspended  by 
a  riband.  His  boots  were  of  yellow  leather  and  his  hat 
of  black  velvet  with  a  white  feather  turning  over  the 
brim,  and  beneath  it  a  broad  band  of  rubies,  emeralds, 
and  diamonds  mixed  with  pearls.  His  pages  were 
splendidly  attired  in  crimson."  A  rose,  a  dragon,  and 
a  greyhound  were  embroidered  on  the  back  of  each 
page.  The  sleeves  of  their  tunics  were  slashed  and 
stuffed  with  fine  white  cambric,  and  they  wore  white 
shoes  and  stockings.  It  seems  clear  that  the  popularity 
or  the  autocratic  power,  or  both,  of  the  king,  early 
found  a  response,  judging  by  the  manner  in  which  men 
of  the  aristocracy  and  even  the  clergy  broke  the  tradi-  L/ 
tions  of  earlier  days  and  took  to  the  new  fashions  as 
fast  and  as  thoroughly  as  circumstances  would  permit, 
Cardinal  Wolsey  setting  them  a  most  remarkable  ex- 
ample. A  certain  churchman  insists  that  until  Cardinal 
Wolsey  set  the  fashion  of  constantly  wearing  silks 
and  embroideries  upon  his  person  the  clergy  were 
"sober  minded  as  to  their  clothes,"  and  another  affirms 

137 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

that  the  "flamboyant  luxury  of  the  king  was  soon  cop- 
ied by  every  gentleman  of  the  realm  who  hoped  to  find 
favour  in  his  sight."  Another  side-light  on  how  a  fash- 
ion starts,  how  it  becomes  a  vogue,  and  through  what 
impulses  a  style  finally  becomes  an  accomplished  fact, 
is  presented  in  the  "Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  Henry 
the  Eighth."  We  read:  "The  dress  of  females  of  rank 
was  restricted  by  limitations  of  a  nature  somewhat  simi- 
lar to  those  which  restricted  the  absurdities  of  male 
attire,  but  was  less  extravagant.  The  gown,  com- 
posed of  silk  or  velvet,  was  shortened  or  lengthened 
according  to  the  rank  of  the  wearer.  The  countess 
was  obliged  by  the  rules  of  etiquette  to  have  a  train 
before  and  behind,  which  she  hung  upon  her  arm,  or 
fastened  in  her  girdle;  the  baroness,  and  all  under  her 
degree,  were  prohibited  from  assuming  that  badge  of 
distinction.  The  matrons  were  distinguished  from  un- 
married women  by  the  different  mode  of  their  head- 
attire;  the  hood  of  the  former  had  recently  been  super- 
seded by  a  coif,  or  close  bonnet,  of  which  the  pictures  by 
Holbein  give  a  representation;  while  the  youthful  and 
the  single,  with  characteristic  simplicity,  wore  the  hair 
braided  with  knots  of  riband. 

"Embroidered  petticoats  and  gowns  were  now  much 
worn  by  the  female  sex.  The  latter  were  frequently 
made  open  in  front,  so  as  to  show  the  satin  kirtle  be- 
neath; an  embroidered  apron,  flowered  in  gold  and 
coloured  silks,  was  also  greatly  admired.  The  bodice, 
or,  as  it  was  formerly  called,  the  surcoat,  was  generally 
of  a  different  colour  from  the  rest  of  the  dress,  and  had 
a  richly  ornamented  stomacher.  'Gowns  of  blew  vel- 
vet, cut  and  lined  with  cloth  of  gold,  made  after  the 
138 


LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 
FRENCH.  THE  TENACITY  OF  TRADITION  IN  CUT  IS 
OFFSET  HERE  BY  SUCH  MODERN  DETAILS  AS  THE  CAP, 
THE  RUCHE,  AND  THE  CHAIN. 


LAST  HALF  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  CONSIDER 
THE  PERSISTENCE  OF  THE  HEAD-DRESS  AND  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE 
RUFF  WHICH  DISTINGUISHED  THE  COSTUME  OF  THE  LAST  QUARTER 
OF  THE  CENTURY  THROUGHOUT  CIVILIZED  EUROPE. 


THIRD  QUARTER  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  THE 
MATERIAL,  CUT,  ORNAMENT,  AND  STYLE  OF  THE  HAIR  ARE  PAR- 
TICULARLY CHARACTERISTIC  OF  THIS  EPOCH  IN  FLORENCE. 


THE  THIRD  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  ENGLISH. 
THE  ABNORMAL  INTERPRETATION  OF  THIS  PERIOD  BY  ELIZABETH 
OF  ENGLAND  AND  HER  COURT  IS  TOO  FAMILIAR  TO  REQUIRE  MEN- 
TION. THIS  ILLUSTRATION  IS  AMONG  THE  MILDEST  OF  ITS  KIND. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

fashion  of  Savoy,'  are  named  by  a  writer  of  the  day,  who 
also  describes  the  dress  worn  by  Anne  of  Cleves,  which 
consisted  of  'a  ryche  gown  of  cloth  of  gold,  raised, 
made  round,  without  any  trayne,  after  the  Dutch 
fashion/' 

Among  many  kinds  of  head-dresses  used,  were  a  vel- 
vet cap  adorned  with  jewels,  with  a  long  flowing  veil, 
and  a  coif  or  French  hood;  three-cornered  caps,  too, 
were  worn,  as  were  also  frontlets. 

The  autocratic  king  condemned  all  men  to  wear  short 
hair,  but  gave  them  permission  to  make  their  beards 
as  fierce  as  they  chose,  and  to  curl  their  moustaches, 
in  which,  it  is  written,  they  took  great  solace. 

Sumptuary  laws  were  passed  with  the  usual  results, 
limiting  colours,  designs,  and  styles,  to  certain  class  dis- 
tinctions. Coats  had  skirts,  waistcoats  were  invented, 
and  we  find  a  record  of  many  "trimmed  shirts  wrought 
with  black  and  white  silk,  and  shirtbands  of  silver, 
with  ruffles  to  the  same."  Hall,  who  was  very  particu- 
lar in  describing  dress,  gives  this  account  of  that  of 
Henry  VIII  the  first  year  after  he  ascended  the  throne : 
"A  suit  of  short  garments,  little  beneathe  the  pointes, 
of  blew  velvet  and  crymosyne,  with  long  sleeves,  all 
cut  and  lyned  with  cloth  of  gold,  and  the  utter  parts  of 
the  garments  powdered  with  castles  and  sheafes  of  ar- 
rowes,  of  fyne  dockett  golde;  the  upper  part  of  the 
hosen  of  like  sewte  and  facion;  the  nether  parts  of  scar- 
let, powdered  with  tymbrelles  of  fyne  gold.  On  his  head 
was  a  bonnet  of  damaske  silver,  flatte  woven  in  the  stoll, 
and  thereupon  wrought  with  gold,  and  ryche  feathers 
in  it."  Another  day,  Hall  says  the  king  was  habited 
"in  a  frocke,  all  embroidered  over  with  flatted  gold  of 

139 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

damaske,  with  small  lace  mixed  between  of  the  same 
gold,  and  other  laces  of  the  same  going  traverse-wise, 
that  the  ground  little  appeared;  and  about  this  gar- 
ment was  a  rich  guard,  or  border,  very  curiously  em- 
broidered; the  sleeves  and  the  breast  were  cut  and 
lined  with  cloth  of  gold,  and  tied  together  with  great 
buttons  of  diamonds,  rubies,  and  orient  pearles." 

Gowns  are  described  as  of  all  shapes,  long  and  short 
ones,  loose  and  tight  ones,  while  Hall  also  mentions 
a  garment  called  a ' '  chammer . ' '  Capes  of  various  kinds 
with  buttons  and  points,  trunk  sleeves  with  red  cloth  of 
gold,  French  sleeves  of  green  velvet  embroidered  in 
flowers  of  damask  gold  with  knops  of  Venice  gold,  and 
buttons  of  all  kinds  in  which  were  set  pearls  and  rubies 
are  frequently  enumerated.  Velvet  caps  with  plumes 
and  feathers,  flat  caps  and  broad  brimmed  hats  were 
brought  from  France  and  first  appeared  among  the 
fashionable  in  this  reign. 

Many  similar  reports  of  extravagant  materials, 
ostentatious  gems,  and  intimate  styles  both  French  and 
Venetian,  are  found  in  all  the  records  of  this  epoch. 

By  1550,  "extravagant  show  was  the  universal  aim," 
writes  a  historian  of  fashion  in  England.  In  the  last 
sermon  preached  by  Latimer  before  the  young  king 
Edward  VI1  he  launched  a  tirade  against  the  capitula- 
tion of  the  entire  nation  to  fashion,  particularly  French 
fashion,  in  these  words:  "They  must  wear  French 
hoods,  and  I  cannot  tell  you,  I,  what  to  call  it.  And, 
when  they  make  them  ready,  and  come  to  the  covering 
of  the  heade,  they  will  call  and  say, '  Give  me  my  French 
hood,  give  me  my  bonnet,  and  my  cap/  and  so  forth. 
But  here  is  a  vengeance  devil ;  we  must  have  our  power 
140 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

[a  name  he  gave  to  the  bonnet]  from  Turkey  of  velvet. 
Far  fette,  dear  bought,  and,  when  it  cometh,  it  is  a 
false  signe.  I  had  rather  have  a  true  English  signe  than 
a  signe  from  Turkey;  it  is  a  false  signe  when  it  cover- 
eth  not  their  heads,  as  it  should  do.  For  if  they  would 
keep  it  under  the  power,  as  they  ought  to  do  there 
should  not  be  any  such  tussocks  nor  tufts  be  seen  as 
there  be,  nor  such  laying  out  of  the  hair,  nor  braiding 
to  have  it  open.'* 

Gentlemen  wore  great  ruffs,  velvet  caps  with  gold 
bands  and  plumes,  and  often  great  jewels  and  ribands 
on  the  sides,  doublets  of  satin,  white  and  gold  with 
purple,  coats  of  cloth  of  silver  or  gold  and  trimmed  with 
ermine.  A  clasp  of  fine  jewels  made  fast  the  mantle, 
and  jewels  were  hung  about  the  neck.  It  is  easy  to  see 
how  this  description  tallies  with  the  fashions  in  France 
at  this  time,  and  comical  to  picture  the  appearance  of 
these  two  types  of  gentlemen  (recalling  their  long 
beards)  as  they  must  have  looked  in  such  attire. 

The  ladies  followed  either  the  lamented  "French 
styles"  or  those  more  individual  ones  of  "Queen  Jane," 
who  in  her  simple  and  modest  costumes  made  a  decided 
appeal  to  the  limited  number  of  high-born  ladies  to 
whom  modesty  and  humility  seemed  possible  assets. 

During  the  reign  of  Mary,  short  as  it  was — but  five 
years — a  complete  change  in  fashion  took  place.  Sel- 
dom has  so  short  a  period  shown  so  great  a  change  and 
so  quick  an  acceptance  of  an  autocratic  mandate.  With 
love  of  power,  a  passion  for  display,  and  a  will  to  be 
obeyed,  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  same  qualities  in 
her  father,  Henry  VIII;  possessed  also  pride  of  birth, 
arrogance  of  manner,  with  reverence  for  forms,  in- 

141 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

herited  from  her  mother  Katherine  of  Aragon,  and  an 
"ugly  visage"  of  her  own,  this  half  Spanish  queen 
swayed  first  the  court  and  then  the  great  ladies  of  the 
realm  to  her  chosen  fashions.  These  consisted  almost 
entirely  of  imitations  of  the  Spanish.  Perhaps  her 
Spanish  inheritance  or  a  desire  to  compliment  her 
Spanish  husband,  Philip,  and  her  sympathy  with  the 
Inquisition  and  its  Spanish  influences,  may  partially 
account  for  this  phenomenon,  at  least  it  is  an  inter- 
esting speculation.  So  formal,  sumptuous,  pompous, 
and  ungainly  were  all  the  costumes  of  this  period  that 
details  are  too  heavy  for  a  long  recital. 

From  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  in  1558,  one  year 
before  the  death  of  Henry  II  of  France,  until  1603,  an 
interval  covering  the  French  periods  of  Francis  II, 
Charles  IX,  Henry  HI  and  most  of  that  of  Henry  IV, 
was  notable  as  bringing  in  the  first  English  harvest  of 
the  Renaissance  in  the  field  of  art.  How  completely 
the  classic  significance  of  this  institution  failed  to  make 
its  appeal  is  shown  in  the  architecture,  furniture,  cos- 
tumes, and  decorative  arts  as  they  appeared  during 
this  remarkable  reign.  How  the  ideas  embodied  in 
the  creed  of  the  ancients  found  other  paths  of  filtration 
into  the  consciousness  of  England  and  associated  them- 
selves with  what  was  already  there,  is  shown  in  unmis- 
takable terms  in  the  literature  of  the  period. 

On  the  other  side  of  this  dual  institution  stands  the 
demand  of  the  body  for  appetite  satisfaction  and  for  a 
personal  display  capable  of  satisfying  in  its  grandeur 
and  sumptuousness  the  distorted  or  undeveloped 
aesthetic  sense,  while  materialism  stealthily  and  steadily 
displaces  spiritual  vision.  In  each  of  these  suggested 
142 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

lines  we  may  trace  clearly  the  progress  in  England,  but 
how  unlike  are  the  manifestations  to  those  of  France 
during  the  same  period.  A  close  comparison  is  not 
altogether  to  the  disadvantage  of  England.  Even  the 
fully  developed  kitchen,  the  dinner  of  a  whole  roast 
ox,  or  the  person  of  the  queen  decorated  to  rival  a 
Christmas  tree  are,  if  abnormal,  certainly  not  decadent 
or  disgustingly  blase. 

Of  this  great  period  we  will  not  go  farther  into  de- 
tails than  is  necessary  to  see  how  fashion,  "motley 
goddess,"  was  changeable  still,  finding  as  ready  subjects 
here  as  ever,  the  readiest  of  them  being  the  vain  and 
effeminate,  though  brusque  and  masculine,  queen. 
She  is  said  to  have  left  more  than  three  thousand  habits 
in  her  wardrobe  when  she  died,  and  prominent  among 
the  records  of  the  gifts  presented  her  by  her  friends 
and  admirers  are  gowns,  petticoats,  kirtles,  doublets, 
and  mantles,  some  embroidered  with  jewels,  and  others 
made  of  velvet  and  damask.  There  were  also. lace 
handkerchiefs,  fine  linen  garments,  rich  jewels,  and 
many  other  small  articles  of  personal  adornment. 

A  description  is  given  of  her  dress  by  Paul  Hentzer, 
who  had  journeyed  to  England  and  was  personally 
received  by  her: 

"The  queen  had  two  great  pearls  in  her  ears  with 
very  big  drops.  She  wore  red  false  hair  and  a  small 
crown.  Her  neck  was  uncovered  and  she  had  a  huge 
necklace  of  exceeding  fine  jewels.  Her  gown  was  white 
silk  all  bordered  with  white  pearls  as  big  as  beans.  She 
wore  a  mantle  of  blush  silk  shot  with  silver  threads  and 
a  very  long  train.  Instead  of  wearing  a  chain  about 
her  neck  she  had  an  oblong  collar  of  gold  and  jewels." 

143 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

We  find  that  during  this  reign  an  outside  dress  of 
velvet  embroidered  with  ermine  and  precious  stones 
was  much  worn,  under  which  was  a  satin  kirtle  with  a 
vest.  This  garment  is  described  by  one,  Stubbs,  in 
this  way:  "The  women,"  he  says,  "have  doublets  and 
jerkins,  as  the  men  have,  buttoned  up  to  the  chin,  and 
made  with  welts,  wings,  and  pinions  on  the  shoulder- 
points,  as  man's  apparel  in  all  respects;  and  although 
this  be  a  kind  of  attire  proper  only  to  a  man,  yet  they 
blush  not  to  wear  it." 

Mary  Margaret  Egerton  makes  a  royal  censor  des- 
cribe the  gowns  of  the  time  as  follows:  "And  then 
their  gownes  be  no  less  famous  than  the  rest;  for  some  be 
of  silk,  some  of  velvet,  some  of  grograin,  some  of 
taffeta,  some  of  scarlet,  and  some  of  fine  cloth,  of  ten, 
twenty,  or  forty  shillings  the  yard;  but  if  the  whole 
garment  be  not  of  silk  or  velvet,  then  the  same  must  be 
layed  over  with  lace  two  or  three  fingers  broad,  all  over 
the  gowne;  or,  if  the  lace  be  not  fine  enough  for  them, 
they  must  be  decorated  with  broad  gardes  of  velvet, 
edged  with  costly  lace.  The  fashions,  too,  are  changing 
as  the  moon;  for  some  be  of  the  new  fashion,  and  some 
of  the  olde;  some  with  sleeves  hanging  down  to  the 
skirts,  trailing  to  the  ground,  and  cast  over  their 
shoulders  like  cow-tails;  some  have  sleeves  much  shorter 
cut  up  the  arm,  drawn  out  with  sundry  colours,  and 
pointed  with  silk  ribands,  and  very  gallantly  tied  with 
love-knotts,  for  so  they  call  them." 

She  further  says:  "These  robes  frequently  had  deep 
capes  of  velvet  or  satin,  'fringed  about  very  bravely,' 
or  crested  down  the  back  'with  more  knacks'  than  can 
be  described.  But  what  is  more  vain,"  she  adds,  "of 
144 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

whatever  the  petticoat  be,  yet  must  they  have  kirtles, 
for  so  they  call  them  of  silk,  velvet,  grograin,  taffeta,  sat- 
in, or  scarlet,  bordered  with  gardes,  lace,  fringe,  and  I 
cannot  tell  what.  Then  they  must  have  their  silk 
scarfs,  cast  about  their  faces,  and  fluttering  in  the 
wind,  with  great  lappels,  at  every  end,  either  of  gold,  or 
silver,  or  silk,  which  they  say  they  wear  to  keep  them 
from  sun-burning."  Again:  :< Their  fingers  must  be 
decked  with  gold,  silver,  or  precious  stones;  their 
wrists  with  bracelets  and  amulets  of  gold  and  costly 
jewels;  their  hands  covered  with  sweet- washed  gloves, 
embroidered  with  gold  and  silver;  and  they  must  have 
looking-glasses  carried  with  them  wheresoever  they  go 
.  .  .  and  they  are  not  ashamed  to  make  holes  in 
their  ears,  whereat  they  hang  rings  and  other  jewels  of 
gold  and  precious  stones." 

With  all  these  there  was  one  "abomination"  which 
the  stolid  Briton  could  never  accept  even  in  the  days  of 
Henry  VIII,  and  this  was  the  fashion  of  wearing  sleeves 
which,  exposing  the  arm  to  open  view,  "astonished  and 
shocked  the  fair  dames"  so  that  naked  arms  "were 
looked  upon  with  horror  and  disgust."  Holinshed's 
"Chronicle"  remarks  that  "nothing  is  more  constant 
in  England  than  inconstancy  of  attire.  Oh,  how  much 
cost  is  bestowed  nowadays  upon  our  bodies,  and  how 
little  upon  our  souls.  How  many  suits  of  apparel  hath 
the  one,  and  how  little  furniture  hath  the  other.  How 
long  a  time  is  asked  in  decking  up  the  first,  and  how 
little  space  left  wherein  to  feed  the  latter." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  English  began  to  take 
to  the  perfume  habit,  and  we  read  that  as  they  could  not 
be  supplied  with  Venetian  products,  they  began  to 

145 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

make  costly  washes  for  themselves.  Perfumed  Vene- 
tian fans  and  gloves  came  into  fashion.  It  is  also 
recorded  that  "the  dress  of  the  citizen,  indeed,  was,  if 
less  elegant,  equally  showy,  and  sometimes  fully  as 
expensive  as  that  of  the  man  of  fashion." 

And  even  here  the  majesty  of  the  law  endeavoured, 
through  the  demands  of  the  queen,  to  step  in  and 
regulate,  if  not  destroy,  the  never  satiated  desire  for 
something  new  and  for  something  grotesque.  It  seems 
indeed  strange  that  Elizabeth,  devoted  to  fashion  as  she 
was,  should  not  have  permitted  her  subjects  to  dress 
somewhat  as  they  chose,  but  she  caused  to  be  enacted 
more  laws  against  over-dressing  than  any  other  English 
sovereign.  She  decreed  that  "no  great  ruff  should  be 
worn,  nor  any  white  colour,  in  doublets  or  hosen,  nor 
any  facing  of  velvet  in  gowns,  but  by  such  as  were  of  the 
bench.  That  no  gentlemen  should  walk  in  the  streets 
in  their  cloaks,  but  in  gowns.  That  no  hat,  or  curled,  or 
long  hair,  be  worn,  nor  any  gowns  but  such  as  be  of  a 
sad  colour."  She  attempted  to  regulate  the  length  and 
shape  of  beards,  and  we  find  laws  against  the  wearing  of 
"cut  or  pansied  hose,  or  bryches,  and  of  pansied 
doublets,"  as  well  as  against  the  use  of  light  colours, 
"of  velvet  caps,  of  scarfs,  and  of  wings  to  the  gowns, 
white  jerkins,  buskins,  or  velvet  shoes,  double  ruffs  to 
the  skirts,  feathers  and  ribbons  in  the  caps."  A  law 
passed  in  1571  also  compelled  those  not  of  noble 
origin  and  more  than  six  years  of  age,  to  wear  on  the 
Sabbaths  and  on  holy  days  caps  of  wool  of  English 
make.  Evidently  this  was  aimed  at  the  practical 
encouragement  of  home  industries.  The  law  was  in 
force  for  twenty-six  years. 
146 


LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  CONSIDER 
THE  NAIVE  CHARM  OF  THE  SAME  STYLES  WHEN  INTERPRETED 
BY  MARIE  STUART  AFTER  FRENCH  ASSOCIATIONS. 


NEAR  THE  END  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  THE 
CHILD  WAS  BUT  THE  MINIATURE  OF  THE  ADULT  IN  MATTERS  OF 
DRESS. 


FIRST  HALF  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN. 
THE  GRADUAL  TRIUMPH  OF  MATERIAL  DISPLAY  OVER 
THE  CLASSIC  AND  .ESTHETIC  IN  DRESS. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

It  certainly  is  a  mistake  to  believe  that  the  Renais- 
sance, the  first  great  modern  institution  of  civilization, 
found  no  place  in  England.  It  did,  and  its  expression 
there  was  as  decided  and  as  individual  as  in  France,  but 
it  was  entirely  different,  and  in  this  fact  lies  its  interest. 
From  the  Platonic  point  of  view,  particularly  of  the  social 
arts,  the  effect  of  its  ideals  was  negligible.  Many  of  the 
ideas  and  projects  that  Italy  conceived,  and  France 
absorbed,  did  not  even  lodge  in  English  consciousness, 
and  such  as  did,  found  an  expression  in  a  very  different 
manner  and  in  quite  different  fields.  What  England 
did  was  to  accept  and  use  the  ready-made  products  of 
the  Renaissance,  both  of  Italy  and  France,  without 
ever  experiencing  the  aesthetic  emotions  enjoyed  by  the 
creators  of  these  things,  or  ever  enjoying  the  satisfac- 
tion that  always  comes  from  creating  to  satisfy  the 
demand  of  an  unexpressed  wish.  The  English  bought 
things  and  hung  them  in  their  houses  and  on  their 
persons,  sometimes  no  doubt  with  some  sense  of  ap- 
preciation, but  always  with  the  newly  liberated  desire  to 
be  modern  and  fashionable  and,  no  doubt,  with  the  too 
well  known  determination  to  be  "up  in  art,"  and 
incidentally  to  make  no  mistake  in  advertising  the  fact 
to  the  world  at  large.  We,  in  these  days,  should  be 
able  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  situation  per- 
fectly. 

The  absolute  autocracy  of  Henry  VIII  with  the 
ultimate  union  of  church  and  state;  the  confiscation  of 
church  property,  and  the  consequent  enrichment  of  the 
aristocracy;  rapidly  developing  commerce,  and  the 
power  of  the  court  to  dictate  social  forms,  combined  to 
effect  one  of  the  most  mixed  and  picturesque  social 

147 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

groups  that  Europe  has  ever  seen.  This  crystallized 
church-state-social  life  had  to  be  expressed,  and  so 
far  as  England  was  concerned  she  was  able  to  furnish 
the  ensemble  of  personages  possessed  of  fine  physical 
bodies  with  fully  developed  appetites,  who  were  some- 
what immature  intellectually,  yet  endowed  with  prac- 
tical common  sense,  a  dormant  aesthetic  instinct  and  an 
innate  reverence  for  their  own  established  domestic 
forms. 

England,  France,  and  Spain  having  either  worked  out, 
or  being  in  process  of  working  out,  each  in  detail,  its 
own  idea  of  the  new  humanism,  and  having  created 
objects  with  which  to  express  its  conceptions,  Eng- 
land apparently  accepted  gladly  "  Venetian  fashions," 
"Spanish  styles,"  "French  modes"  and  "Turkish  tur- 
bans," all  at  the  same  time,  and  thus  was  relieved  not 
only  of  originating  fashions,  but  of  creating  objects  or 
materials  with  which  to  express  fashion's  mandates. 

The  costumes  of  the  sixteenth  century  in  England,  or 
in  other  words  those  of  the  Renaissance,  lacked  noth- 
ing of  richness,  abundance,  extravagance,  or  curiosity. 
What  they  did  lack  was  aesthetic  quality,  the  creator's 
personality  sometimes  revealing^  an  apalling  lack  of 
taste  both  in  selection  and  use.  Granting  all  this  we 
do  not  forget  the  other  various  avenues  through  which 
the  new  humanism  was  ineffaceably  expressed,  and 
thereby  impressed  on  modern  consciousness. 


148 


CHAPTER  FOUR 

THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  FRANCE, 
ITALY,  AND   ENGLAND 


IT  IS  strictly  fashionable  now  in  after  dinner  speeches 
and  anywhere  else  among  the  pseudo-intellectuals  to 
bemoan  the  materialism  of  this  age  and  to  charge  that 
such  a  state  of  things  never  before  existed.  They  have 
evidently  forgotten  the  seventeenth  century,  as  well  as 
the  comforting  old  adage  that  "history  repeats  itself," 
the  latter  bringing  us  the  refreshing  assurance  that 
even  now  a  change  is  due,  and  that  the  pendulum  al- 
ways has  swung  from  one  extreme  of  the  arc  to  the 
other,  therefore  it  is  likely  that  it  always  will.  Ob- 
viously, however,  the  spirit  of  the  seventeenth  century 
was  born  again  amidst  new  surroundings,  with  new 
demands,  and  new  possibilities  for  making  itself 
obnoxious  both  to  the  spiritual  and  to  the  aesthetic 
sense,  while  the  ideas  it  fostered  had  to  run  their  course 
and  exhaust  themselves,  or  in  other  words  to  prove 
their  worthlessness  in  complete  expression. 

The  social  arts  of  the  seventeenth  century,  like  the 
political  and  social  lives  which  they  expressed,  were  the 
results  mainly  of  standards  of  thought  and  life  set  by 
the  courts  of  the  great  European  powers  subsequent  to 
the  advent  of  the  Renaissance,  and  each  of  these  was 
influenced  in  a  particular  way  by  three  very  important 

149 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

facts.  Spiritual  restraint  and  the  habit  of  declaiming 
constantly  against  the  triumph  of  material  over  mind, 
which  was  the  basic  principle  of  the  whole  mediaeval 
structure,  had  been  overcome,  and  had  vanished  into 
the  shades  of  the  subconscious  mind.  The  idea  of  the 
right  of  material  to  live  at  peace  with  the  spirit,  for  the 
purpose  of  satisfying  the  aesthetic  sense,  and  finally  to 
appease  the  appetites  through  the  senses,  had  been 
tried  by  the  leading  powers  with  varying  degrees  of  in- 
telligence and  success  until  finally  tired  and  satiated 
Christendom  awoke  as  if  by  agreement  to  the  belief  that 
it  must  have  more  experience  in  new  fields,  or  be 
gradually  bored  into  decadence  and  extinction.  The 
condition  was  oppressive. 

The  vast,  recently  discovered  and  partially  explored, 
new  world  offered  possibilities  for  new  experiences, 
both  among  the  powers  themselves  and  in  the  new 
world.  These  opportunities  developed  commercial 
rivalry,  the  effect  of  which  contributed  largely  to  make 
this  probably  the  most  completely  materialistic  century 
since  the  days  of  ancient  Rome,  being  approached  only 
in  later  times  by  the  one  in  which  we  find  ourselves  to- 
day. Spiritual  aspiration  seemed  impotent,  taste  was 
dead,  the  intellect  was  dazed  and  the  senses  perverted. 

It  was  about  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century  that  the  effete  dynasty  of  the  Valois  became 
extinct.  Its  abuses,  its  ideals,  and  its  practices  gave 
way  to  a  directing  influence  so  different  from  its 
predecessors  as  to  seem  by  comparison  as  modern  as  the 
first  quarter  of  the  political  twentieth  century.  The 
master  mind  was  none  other  than  that  of  Henry  IV,  the 
first  of  the  Bourbons  and  the  founder  of  policies,  which 
150 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

if  they  had  been  carried  out,  would  no  doubt  have 
placed  France  during  that  century  in  the  foremost  rank 
of  democratic  republics,  instead  of  rendering  it  the  most 
formidable  complete  autocracy  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
Alas,  his  life  was  cut  off  by  an  assassin  in  1610,  and  the 
queen  regent,  Marie  de'  Medici,  with  her  great  minister 
Richelieu,  who  really  ruled  France  (1624  to  1643),  not 
only  undid  all  that  the  great  Henry  had  done,  but  laid 
foundations,  which  were  built  upon  by  Anne  of  Austria 
and  Mazarin  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII  (1610  to 
1643)  and  on  until  the  majority  of  the  new  king,  for  the 
greatest  and  the  most  grandiose  of  all  monarchic  ex- 
pression of  European  social  life. 

So  far  as  we  are  concerned  in  this  work,  one  of  the 
greatest  things  done  by  Henry  IV  was  the  issuance  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1598),  by  which  he  placed  all 
Protestants  on  an  equal  footing  with  Catholic  subjects. 
This  caused  an  enormous  emigration  of  artists,  crafts- 
men, and  other  workers,  especially  from  Flanders, 
Holland,  and  England.  Some,  too,  came  from  Italy  and 
Spain.  The  effect  on  industrial  production  was  almost 
instantaneous,  but  unfortunately  not  always  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  art  quality.  The  second  act  was  his 
marriage  to  Marie  de'  Medici,  the  daughter  of  the  Duke 
of  Tuscany.  She  was  a  rather  uncultivated,  badly 
brought  up  bourgeoise  from  Florence;  a  niece  of  the 
great  Catherine,  but  having  neither  her  sense,  taste,  nor 
diplomacy.  Her  Baroque  taste,  bourgeois  desires,  and 
middle-class  Italian  friends,  with  her  unbridled  ambition, 
helped  to  bring  out  in  France  one  of  the  most  ostenta- 
tious and  vulgar  exhibitions  of  social  splendour  yet 
recorded.  It  would  be  much  simpler  if  we  could  from 

151 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

this  point  discuss  the  whole  social  art  of  France  during 
the  periods  formed  by  the  queens  and  various  mis- 
tresses of  Henry  IV,  Louis  XIV,  XV,  and  XVI,  than  it 
would  be  to  connect  these  periods  with  the  monarchs 
themselves,  none  of  whom,  excepting  Louis  XIV,  having 
had  much  real  effect,  as  everything  depended  upon  the 
ideas  and  caprices  of  each  favourite  who  chanced  to  be 
the  dictator  at  that  time,  and  the  use  she  made  of  her 
power. 

In  1601  Marie  de'  Medici  came  to  France  as  the  bride 
of  Henry  IV,  who  had  divorced  Marguerite  de  Valois  to 
make  this  possible.  She  had  brought  France  the  dowry 
demanded,  left  her  home  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  met 
Henry  at  Lyons  where,  "clad  sumptuously  in  a  blue 
mantle  wrought  with  the  fleur-de-lis,  she  bore  upon  her 
head  the  royal  crown."  Here  they  tarried  a  short  time 
when  the  queen  set  off  for  Paris,  arriving  two  months 
later,  while  the  king  dashed  off  in  another  direction  to 
meet  his  mistress  Henriette  d'Entraigues  at  the  Chateau 
de  Verneuil.  This  fact  is  recorded  to  throw  a  little 
light  on  the  domestic  conditions  under  which  Marie 
began  her  life  in  France.  She  found  her  suite  of  four 
rooms  in  the  Louvre  "too  bare  and  unattractive"  but 
soon  made  them  to  her  liking,  and  may  we  be  pardoned 
if  we  give  the  verbatim  description  of  her  bedroom  as 
written  by  Battifol  in  his  "Marie  de'  Medici  and  Her 
Court": 

"Of  the  four  windows  of  the  adjoining  sleeping- 
room,  the  most  beautiful  of  the  suite,  two  opened 
upon  the  courtyard  and  two  upon  the  Seine,  the  last 
with  a  balcony.  The  woodwork  of  the  fireplace,  the 
ceiling,  and  the  wainscoting,  was  entirely  renewed  by 
152 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

Marie  and  bore  the  royal  cipher  of  Henry  IV.  On  a 
raised  platform  at  the  back  of  the  room  stood  the 
splendid  bed  of  which  the  wooden  posts  were  richly 
carved  and  gilded,  and  hung  with  curtains  changed 
twice  in  each  year.  Canopy,  curtains,  and  the  cover- 
ings of  the  tables  in  this  apartment  were  all  of  the  same 
stuff — in  summer  silk,  in  winter  'old-rose  velvet/  both 
designed  and  furnished  by  the  upholsterers  Antoine 
Pierre  Rousselet,  and  Simon  Nantier.  Magnificent 
rails  of  solid  silver  with  ornaments  in  the  same  metal, 
twenty-four  great  chased  silver  plaques  isolated  this 
bed  from  the  rest  of  the  chamber  as  though  within  a 
sanctuary  to  be  entered  by  none  but  the  two  valets  de 
chambre  in  whose  care  it  was.  'Four  great  candle- 
sticks, also  of  silver/  of  like  design  and  by  the  same 
artist,  Nicholas  Roger,  stood  at  the  four  corners  of  the 
room.  The  cost  of  all  this  amounted  to  forty  thousand 
francs.  To  complete  the  decoration,  family  portraits 
of  the  Medici  hung  upon  the  walls,  which  were  also  set 
about  with  cabinets — one,  'in  imitation  of  the  Chinese, 
with  silver  handles  on  the  drawers/  being  the  work  of 
Laurent  Septabre,  'worker  in  ebony,  dwelling  in  the 
gallery  of  the  Louvre'  while  another,  gilded  and  larger, 
and  also  'after  the  Chinese/  was  from  the  hand  of 
Etienne  Sager,  'master-worker  in  the  imitation  of 
Chinese  art.'  In  one  of  these  cabinets  were  bestowed 
the  Queen's  most  valuable  possessions,  golden  caskets, 
vases,  and  jewels;  the  key  was  held  by  the  faithful 
valet  de  chambre,  Nicholas  Roger,  who  was  also  a  gold- 
smith by  trade.  A  precious  casket,  the  gift  of  a  Ger- 
man princess,  artistic  cups,  rare  porcelains,  silver 
baskets,  a  reliquary  ornamented  with  nineteen  dia- 

153 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

monds  and  a  pearl,  a  font  of  crystal  for  holy  water 
'mounted  in  silver  and  having  for  sprinkler  a  crystal 
cup  in  the  form  of  a  shell,'  and  a  thousand  other  objects 
of  value  completed  the  furnishings  of  this  room." 

We  are  told  that  the  queen's  clothes  filled  a  host  of 
carved  chests  placed  here  and  there,  and  in  numberless 
small  rooms  set  apart  for  that  purpose.     A  description 
of  the  queen  at  toilet  gives  some  idea  of  the  quality  of 
the  materials  used,  and  of  the  quantity  from  which  the 
selections  for  the  toilet  were  made.      'Their  first  step 
was   to   clothe  their  mistress   in   a  chemise   of  linen 
damasked  with  gold  and  red  silk,  'worked  with  gold 
thread/  or  white  or  black  silk.     The  next  garments 
were  silk  stockings,  carnation  yellow,  or  blue  in  colour, 
for   Marie   would   never   wear  black   unless   when   in 
mourning.    A  petticoat,  selected  from  numerous  '  heaps ' 
in  the  chests,  followed — of  'slashed  violet  satin,'  white 
satin  lined  with  green  taffetas,  Chinese  'tabit'  lined 
with  yellow  taffetas,  yellow  satin  lined  with  red  satin, 
carnation  satin  lined  with  yellow,  thin  brocatelle  with 
blue   ground,   or  black   satin   embroidered   with   gold 
flowers.     Having  made  her  choice,  and  still  wearing  the 
'high  canvas  night-cap'  in  which  she  slept,  the  Queen 
put    on    a    dressing-jacket,    and    thus    apparelled    'in 
petticoat  and  night-cap,'  gave  audience  to  the  people  of 
her  household.     .     .     .     The  choice  of  the  day's  dress 
was   an   important   question,    and   of   dresses,    skirts, 
mantles,    vests,    cimarres,    pourpoints,    demi-mantles, 
and   capes,   and   all   garments   affected   by   the   most 
fashionable  ladies  of  the  time,  she  naturally      possessed 
a  profusion,  and  these  in  the  richest  materials.     .     .     . 
Setting  aside  the  splendid  dresses  of  ceremony  for  the 
154 


FIRST  HALF  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN.  CHAR- 
ACTERISTIC QUALITIES  AS  WELL  AS  MATERIALS  AND  DETAILS  ARE 
SIMILAR  IN  MASCULINE  AND  FEMININE  APPAREL. 


EARLY  PART  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  MARIE 
DE  MEDICI.  WE  MAY  ASSUME  THAT  LOVE  OF  DISPLAY  BORDERING 
ON  VULGARITY  INSPIRED  THIS  STYLE.  ITS  TRIUMPH  IS  SEEN  IN 
THE  RUFF,  EARRINGS,  AND  OTHER  JEWELS. 


FIRST  HALF  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  ANNE 
OF  AUSTRIA.  OSTENTATION,  DISGUISE  OF  THE  HUMAN  FORM  AND 
THE  FEAR  OF  AN  UNORNAMENTED  SPOT  CAN  BE  THE  ONLY  EX- 
PLANATION FOR  THIS  RESULT.  COMPARE  WITH  PRECEDING. 


SECOND  QUARTER  OF  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  GERMAN.  THE 
USE  MADE  OF  FOREIGN  POSSIBILITIES  IN  STYLE  FOR  THE  INFANT'S 
CLOTHES  IS  CHARACTERISTIC. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

moment — as  a  dress  of  cloth  of  gold  on  a  ground  of 
columbine  and  with  a  long  train,  a  dress  of  gold  and 
silver  embroidery,  a  dress  of  blue  velvet  sewn  with  gold 
fleur-de-lis — the  Queen's  choice  has  fallen  upon  a  more 
simple  costume  of  carnation  satin.  This  arranged  to 
her  satisfaction,  her  jewels,  of  which  she  has  quantities 
scattered  in  different  cabinets  must  not  be  forgotten, 
nor  yet  her  ring.  Her  gold  bracelets,  studded  with 
seventy-two  small  diamonds  were  purchased  from 
Frangois  le  Prestre,  jeweller  of  Paris,  for  one  thousand 
and  fifty  livres;  her  earrings,  two  great  diamonds  sur- 
rounded by  lesser  brilliants,  were  made  by  the  jeweller, 
Jean  Subtil.  Her  gold  watch,  valued  at  two  thousand 
one  hundred  livres,  is  'oval  in  shape  and  ornamented 
with  several  diamonds,'  and  she  must  not  forget  to 
place  in  her  pocket  for  use  at  Mass  the  'rosary  of 
enamelled  gold,  embellished  with  diamonds,'  a  trifle 
worth  nine  thousand  six  hundred  livres.  And,  thus 
adorned,  the  Queen  must  yet  perfume  herself." 

All  this  at  the  very  beginning  of  a  reign  which  in- 
creased in  luxury,  in  abandon  to  the  appetites,  and  in 
sumptuousness  of  surroundings,  in  geometric  ratio  to 
the  time  which  the  reign  covered.  A  mere  glimpse  of 
one  or  two  more  descriptions  given  the  sumptuous  life 
of  this  Baroque  Queen,  and  the  rest  of  the  picture  must 
be  left  to  the  imagination  of  those  who  are  familiar,  or 
are  interested  enough  to  become  so,  with  the  twenty- 
two  or  more  paintings  (now  in  the  Louvre)  by  Rubens, 
picturing  some  of  the  important  events  in  her  life;  and 
then  to  the  furniture  of  the  period,  including  tapestries, 
some  in  the  Cluny  Museum,  some  scattered  about  in 
private  collections  of  those  connoisseurs  whose  taste  has 

155 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

prompted  them  to  collect  in  the  spirit  of  chivalry, 
curiosity,  or  self-indulgence. 

Her  sheds  were  filled  with  "heavy  lumbering" 
coaches,  the  regular  one  of  gilt,  upholstered  in  red  velvet 
and  drawn  by  eight  horses.  The  "rich  coach"  built  in 
1604,  upholstered  also  in  red  velvet  and  gold  and 
heavily  carved,  stood  next,  and  close  by,  the  gala  coach 
given  to  Marie  by  the  king  upon  her  arrival  in  France. 
This  was  upholstered  in  tan  coloured  velvet  with  silver 
tinsel,  lined  with  carnation  velvet  and  embroidered  in 
gold  and  silver  with  curtains  made  of  carnation  damask. 
There  were  four  special  coaches  for  the  court  ladies,  a 
coach  for  their  women  and  coaches  for  girls,  each  drawn 
by  six  horses.  Of  all  the  coachmen  there  were  but  two, 
called  "coachmen  of  the  body,"  who  were  allowed  to 
drive  her  majesty.  They  wore  a  livery  of  blue  and  red 
velvet  entirely  covered  with  gold  embroidery;  with  this 
were  a  gold  belt  and  shoulder  knots,  white  silk  stockings, 
and  a  gorgeous  hat.  Five  postillions  also  in  sumptuous 
liveries,  leading  the  horses,  with  two  footmen  in  scarlet 
mantles  and  breeches  of  blue  velvet,  doublets  of  cha- 
mois skin,  and  gold  shoulder  knots  and  belts,  stood 
behind  each  coach. 

The  queen  was  attended  by  twelve  pages  attired  in 
cloth  of  gold,  with  borders  of  two  colours,  white  and 
silver.  These  all  rode  behind  the  state  coach  on 
gorgeously  caparisoned  horses.  A  description  of  the 
extent  of  the  wardrobe  even  of  these  lackeys  was  ap- 
palling, and  "their  conduct  in  the  halls  and  chambers  of 
the  palace,"  says  a  writer,  "was  disgraceful." 

It  is  said  of  the  beautiful  Gabrielle  d'Estrees,  mistress 
of  Henry  IV,  that  her  dress  at  court  was  so  loaded  with 
156 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones  that  it  was  absolutely 
impossible  for  her  to  move  about  at  all  in  full  dress,  and 
almost  impossible  for  her  to  stand  up,  "such  was  the 
extent  of  her  finery." 

"Gabrielle  d'Estrees,  who  wore  her  hair  frizzed  and 
drawn  back  in  the  shape  of  a  heart,  had  a  'cotillon'  of 
the  colour  of  *  gold-dust  of  Turkey.'  Her  black  satin 
gown,  slashed  with  white,  is  mentioned  by  some 
writers.  She  paid  1900  crowns  for  the  embroidered 
handkerchief  she  carried  at  a  ballet.  Some  court  | 
ladies  loaded  themselves  with  such  a  weight  of  pearls 
and  jewels  that  they  were  unable  to  move.  At  the 
baptism  of  the  king's  children,  on  September  14,  1606, 
the  queen's  gown,  covered  with  'thirty-two  thousand 
pearls  and  three  thousand  diamonds,  was  beyond 
rivalry,  and  priceless.'  Before  that,  in  1594,  Gabrielle 
d'Estrees  was  so  loaded  with  pearls  and  sparkling  gems 
that  'she  outshone  the  light  of  the  torches.'  She  pos- 
sessed a  'cotte  of  Turkish  cloth  of  gold,  with  flowers 
embroidered  in  carnation,  white,  and  green,'  and  a 
'gown  of  flowered  green  velvet,  lined  with  cloth  of 
silver,  and  trimmed  with  gold  and  silver  braid,  and 
pipings  of  carnation  satin." 

The  Marechal  de  Bassompierre  speaks  of  one  of  his 
own  coats  trimmed  with  pearls  that  cost  him  more  than 
nine  hundred  pounds  sterling.  This  item  of  expense  is 
illuminating. 

Another  mistress  of  the  king,  Henriette  d'Entraigues, 
spoken  of  in  early  life  as  a  tall  slim  creature  well  pro- 
portioned, fascinating,  elegant  and  harmonious  in  line, 
is  thus  described  after  the  death  of  the  king:  "She 
grew  old  gently,  becoming  fat  and  monstrous  and  think  - 

157 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

ing  only  of  her  victuals,  but  her  love  for  an  inordinate 
display  of  jewels  never  left  her,  and  she  was  heavily 
scented  from  head  to  foot  until  the  end."  This  throws 
some  more  light  on  the  phases  of  humanity  that  were 
finding  in  this  reign  and  the  next  a  "full  and  free"  ex- 
pression. 

A  costume  historian  speaks  of  the  common  dress  of  a 
gentleman  as  consisting  of  a  doublet  of  silver  tissue, 
white  satin  shoes,  and  white  silk  stockings,  a  rich  black 
velvet  coat  bordered  with  rich  embroidery  (often  in 
pearls  and  other  gems)  lined  with  cloth  of  silver,  and  a 
black  velvet  bonnet  trimmed  with  precious  stones  of 
great  worth.  Beards  were  large  and  waxed  so  as  to 
create  an  "ugly  look"  as  one  writer  avers.  With  all 
this  we  remember  that  it  was  in  this  reign  that  forks 
from  Venice  were  first  introduced  into  France,  a  proof 
that  human  progress  was  not  arrested. 

The  passion  for  low  cut  bodices  became  unbridled. 
Pope  Innocent  XI  issued  a  bull  commanding  all  women, 
married  and  single,  "to  cover  their  bosoms,  shoulders 
and  arms  down  to  the  waist  with  non-transparent 
materials  on  pain  of  excommunication."  But  we  are 
told  that  it  was  all  in  vain,  for  the  taste  for  the  light 
transparent  and  low  cut  gowns  "grew  and  enjoyed  a 
long  career." 

A  sort  of  gum  was  used  which  kept  the  hair  in  place. 
False  hair  of  all  kinds  was  worn.  Wigs  were  powdered, 
with  one  colour  for  brunettes  and  another  for  blondes. 
Many  kinds  of  head-dresses  appeared  and  were  called 
Spanish,  Venetian,  or  anything  else  that  seemed 
descriptive.  Patches  came  into  style  about  1550,  and 
by  the  advent  of  the  Regency  society  recognized  seven 
158 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

distinct  kinds.     High-born  ladies  wore  black  masks  and 
various  brightly  coloured  stockings. 

All  these  details  would  be  tiresome  were  it  not  that 
through  these  glimpses  into  the  social  expression  of  the 
day  one  gets  a  clear  idea  of  the  materialism  of  the  time, 
of  the  dulled  sense  of  aesthetic  discrimination,  and  of  the 
extravagance  and  brazen  exploitation  of  all  that  the 
period  really  meant. 

It  would  not  be  worth  while  here  to  separate  the 
periods  of  Henry  IV  and  Louis  XIII  except  for  two 
things:  first,  the  increase  of  Spanish  influence  and 
through  this  influence  the  introduction  of  more  Spanish 
materials  and  fashions  into  France  through  the  marriage 
of  Louis  XIII  with  Anne  of  Austria,  a  Spanish  prin- 
cess; second,  the  great  centralizing  work  of  Richelieu 
which  during  this  reign  increased  the  splendour  of 
court  life,  but  divided  the  power  of  social  and  political 
dictation  between  the  court  and  the  great  minister 
himself.  This  increased  the  number  of  court  hangers- 
on,  divided  tastes,  and  gave  greater  liberty  to  self-ex- 
pression. In  fact,  one  authority  called  it  the  reign  in 
which  "the  women  shone  in  jewels  as  much  as  they 
could,  others  in  embroidery,  feathers,  ribbands,  and 
good  looks,  each  according  to  her  means  and  the  gifts  of 
nature,  for  there  was  ample  liberty,  not  to  say  license  in 
dress." 

Evidently  the  great  Cardinal,  himself  of  the  dress 
party,  kept  the  Vatican  quiet,   thus  staving  off  the 
sumptuary  laws  which  attempted  to  harass  the  gentry      * 
of  the  previous  reign. 

Richelieu  died  in  1642  and  Marie  de'  Medici  five 
months  before  him,  at  the  court  of  Charles  I  of  England 

159 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

and  her  daughter,  Queen  Henrietta.  Louis  XIII,  dying 
one  year  later,  in  1643,  Anne  of  Austria  became  Regent 
during  the  minority  of  the  young  king  Louis  XIV,  who 
was  then  but  five  years  old. 

The  social  life  of  this  period  is  perhaps  the  most  diffi- 
cult of  all  to  picture  because  of  its  aims,  duration, 
peculiarities,  and  accomplishments.  In  this  reign  an- 
other and  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all  forms  of  material- 
ism was  crystallized  and  expressed,  not  only  in  France 
but  in  all  Christendom  where  it  was  adopted  in  some 
shape  or  form,  and  its  end  is  not  yet,  although  the  king 
passed  on  in  1715. 

Whatever  one  may  think  of  the  politics  of  the  most 
absolute  of  monarchs,  of  the  most  hypocritical  of  all 
religious  expressions  and  of  one  of  the  strangest  social 
conditions  in  all  history,  he  is  driven  to  amazement  at 
the  system  of  repression  and  oppression  which  could  so 
hypnotize  the  people  as  to  make  such  a  situation  possi- 
ble, while  the  social  life,  particularly  as  it  was  expressed 
at  the  court  of  Versailles,  was  the  greatest  of  all  mar- 
vels. 

Louis  XIV,  unlike  most  monarchs,  was  in  himself  an 
institution.  He  was  an  idea,  the  state,  the  church, 
around  which  all  social  policies  were  formed  and 
through  whose  satellites  they  were  all  expressed.  Never 
before  has  there  been  such  perfect  autocratic  machinery 
of  so  complete  and  satisfying  splendour,  and  never  did 
one  function  better. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII  the  state  was  split  into 
fragments.  Nobles  fought  against  each  other,  the  king 
against  the  Cardinal,  Spain  against  the  king,  while 
robbers,  Huguenots,  and  freebooters  made  war  on  every- 
160 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

body.  Industry  lagged,  Paris  only  was  gay.  Science 
made  some  progress  but  art  was  practically  inactive. 
The  problem  was  tremendous,  but  a  process  of  solution 
was  found  in  the  road  to  complete  autocracy  and  a  self- 
aggrandizement  of  blatant  grandeur  incomparable  in 
its  quantity,  its  heaviness,  its  splendour,  and  sometimes 
in  its  tawdriness. 

This  reign  may  be  said  to  be  divided  into  three  parts : 
the  first,  from  the  king's  accession  to  the  death  of  Maz- 
arin  in  1661,  while  the  dominating  influence  was  that 
of  Anne  of  Austria;  the  second  from  1661  to  the  death 
of  the  greatest  of  all  ministers  of  France,  Colbert,  in 
1683.  This  period  was  the  one  when  the  king  was  under 
the  spell  of  several  of  the  most  important  of  his  mis- 
tresses, including  Mile,  de  la  Valliere,  and  Mme.  de 
Montespan,  whose  every  whim  was  law,  not  unto  the 
king  alone,  but  to  all  who  sought  favour  of  him  in  any 
way.  Their  power  in  the  social  world  was  final,  their 
influence  in  the  political  field  practically  unlimited,  and 
spiritual  affairs  were  not  allowed  to  assert  themselves 
although  hypocritical  forms  were  observed.  The  third 
period  was  contained  between  1683  and  the  death  of 
the  king  in  1715,  during  which  time  the  king  was  in  the 
hands  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  whom  he  married  after 
the  death  of  Maria  Theresa  in  1683.  Probably  no 
woman  in  France  has  ever  received  so  much  attention 
by  writers  as  Mme.  de  Maintenon,  certainly  no  woman 
has  ever  had  such  widely  divergent  treatment  at  their 
hands,  their  characterizations  ranging  all  the  way  from 
that  of  a  saint  to  that  of  the  most  bigoted  and  un- 
scrupulous of  all  women. 

During  the  first  period  turmoil  and  discord  were 

161 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

constant.  It  is  strange  how  like  it  was  to  our  modern 
conditions.  "The  lower  classes  grew  turbulent  and 
demanded  their  rights  to  equal  those  of  the  bourgeoisie; 
the  nobles  became  insolent,  and  foreign  nations  took 
advantage  and  invaded  the  country.  Conspiracies 
hatched  in  boudoirs,  broke  out  in  streets,  and  women 
placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  mobs."  Mazarin 
once  said  that  there  were  three  women  in  France  capa- 
ble of  governing  or  entirely  upsetting  a  kingdom.  "Par- 
lour Bolshevik!"  were  active,  red  agitators  were  as 
noisy  as  they  are  now,  while  insurrection  and  sedition 
of  strangely  familiar  kinds  were  everywhere.  All  this 
gradually  sank  beneath  the  surface  as  the  conception  of 
the  "Grand  Monarque"  moved  to  complete  realiza- 
tion. 

The  completion  of  this  triumphal  march  to  absolute 
autocratic  self-aggrandizement,  was  reached  in  the 
second  of  the  three  periods  of  this  reign,  between 
1661  and  1683,  during  a  good  part  of  which  time  Mme. 
de  Montespan's  power  was  the  controlling  force. 
Amusement  or  entertainment  was  the  chief  concern  of 
everyone  at  Versailles,  with  the  supreme  satisfaction  in 
these  matters  centred  in  the  person  of  the  king,  at 
least  outwardly.  Condemned  to  constant  ceremonial 
by  virtue  of  this  particular  type  of  court  life,  committed 
to  the  bluff  of  absolutely  divine  right  in  all  things  spir- 
itual and  secular,  and  expected  to  keep  the  hosts  of 
court  hangers-on  placated  and  contented,  Louis  and 
the  great  Colbert  were  taxed  to  the  limit  to  collect 
money,  and  discover  persons  who  could  invent  and 
execute  the  proper  settings  for  this  punctilious,  per- 
functory, and  extravagant  court  life. 
162 


FIRST  HALF  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  ENGLISH.  JAMES  I. 
IF  SO  ORDINARY  AND  CLUMSY  A  PRINCE  IS  THUS  ARRAYED,  WHAT  OF 
THE  MORE  FASTIDIOUS? 


BEFORE  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  ITALIAN, 
THE  PASSING  OF  THE  RUFF  AND  THE  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  WIDE. 
FLAT  COLLAR  IS  WELL  SHOWN. 


AROUND  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  FLOREN- 
TINE. WHILE  MATERIAL  VULGARITY  PREVAILED  THROUGHOUT 
CHRISTENDOM  THERE  WAS  EVIDENTLY  IN  ITALY  ANOTHER  QUALITY 
WORTH  RECOGNIZING. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

To  this  end  systems  of  taxation,  each  more  sweeping 
than  the  last,  were  devised;  rich  materials  were  sought 
for  in  every  land;  foreign  designers  and  craftsmen  were 
called  in  to  do  their  utmost  to  satisfy  the  court  demands 
in  every  phase  of  vanity's  creation. 

It  is  recorded  in  1662  that  pleasure  and  plenty  reigned 
at  court.  Money  was  abundant;  every  purse  was  open 
and  young  men  got  as  much  cash  as  they  chose  from  the 
notaries.  There  was  a  constant  succession  of  feasts, 
dances,  and  entertainments  of  every  kind.  In  1664 
Louis  gave  to  each  of  his  courtiers  presents  of  dress 
stuffs  "because  they  were  positively  no  longer  free  to 
dress  as  they  liked."  At  Marly  he  provided  in  every 
suite  of  apartments,  for  every  court  lady,  a  complete 
wardrobe,  with  laces,  so  that  they  might  not  have  to 
bring  costumes  when  the  court  was  in  residence.  Even 
the  royal  princess  had  to  be  granted  special  favour  "to 
buy  or  wear  blue  silk  embroidery." 

Materials  grew  more  magnificent.  We  read  of  them 
brocaded  with  red  and  gold  leaves,  violet,  gold  and  sil- 
ver flowers,  and  there  were  brocades  with  gold  and  silver 
interwoven  threads.  Dresses  were  painted  with  ex- 
quisite flowers  and  figures;  even  linen,  formerly  printed, 
came  in  for  painted  scenes  and  bouquets  of  flowers  in 
which  "there  was  more  green  than  formerly."  Net- 
work coifs,  an  English  material  of  linen  mounted  on  silk, 
clothes  with  "raised  ornaments,"  "Temple"  and  other 
forms  of  jewellery  are  freely  mentioned. 

Fashion  was  etiquette  at  the  court  and  the  court 
was  the  kernel  of  life,  and  Louis  XIV  was  the  dictator  of 
this  cycle.  His  fancy,  changeable  and  capricious,  in 
detail  was  steadfast  in  its  formalism,  so  that  fashions 

163 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

were  of  the  moment  only.  New  things  and  novel  ones 
were  sought  by  every  clever  woman  whose  appearance 
in  them  was  a  signal  for  a  rush  to  imitate  them,  after 
which  came  a  greater  rush  to  drop  them  in  order  to  find 
a  more  astonishing  substitute.  The  reigning  court  fav- 
ourite was  the  leader  and  the  great  inspiration  through 
which  invention  was  stimulated. 

An  amusing  instance  of  the  derivation  of  a  single 
fashion  is  given  in  the  description  of  a  hunting  party 
at  which  the  king  and  one  of  his  mistresses,  the  Duch- 
esse  de  Fontanges,  were  present.  A  sudden  gust  of 
wind  blew  aside  her  elaborate  head-dress.  She  imme- 
diately tied  it  in  place  with  her  garters  allowing  the 
ribbon  ends  to  fall  over  her  forehead.  The  king  was 
delighted  with  this  device  and  the  court  is  said  to 
have  adopted  the  fashion  immediately,  as  did  the  en- 
tire bourgeoisie,  naming  it  "coiffure  a  la  Fontanges." 
This  fashion  was  taken  up  by  the  gentry  in  England  also 
and  it  persisted  there  for  some  time  under  its  French 
name. 

Concerning  the  universality  of  extravagance  and  the 
determination  of  all  classes  to  imitate  so  far  as  possible 
the  ways  of  the  high-born,  regardless  of  their  poverty, 
\  Dubois  de  Montendre  writes: 

"If  the  people  were  poor,  should  we  see  neckerchiefs 
worth  twenty  or  thirty  crowns  on  the  wives  of  cooks? 
or  liveried  lacqueys  carrying  a  cushion  behind  their 
mistress,  a  mere  shopkeeper's  wife?  Should  we  see 
milliners  and  butchers'  daughters  wearing  dresses  worth 
300  or  400  francs?  or  gold  trimmings  brought  down  so 
low  as  to  adorn  laundresses  withal?  And  is  it  not  true 
that  clothes  ought  to  be  infallible  tokens  by  which  to, 
164 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE 

distinguish  rank  and  conditions  in  life,  and  that  in 
the  gardens  of  the  Luxembourg  or  the  Tuileries  we 
ought  to  have  no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  a  duchess 
from  a  bookseller's  spouse,  a  marchioness  from  a  gro- 
cer's wife,  or  a  countess  from  a  cook?" 

We  are  told,  too,  how  the  women  hastened  the  decay 
of  their  beauty  and  urged  on  the  appearance  of  old  age 
by  the  unlimited  use  of  certain  powders  and  paints  for 
the  complexion.     La  Bruyere  says  that  "if  their  wish 
is  to  be  pleasing  to  men,  if  it  is  for  the  men's  sake  that   yt 
they  lay  on  their  white  and  red  paint,  I  have  inquired 
into  the  matter,  and  I  can  tell  them  that  in  the  opinion     >yo 
of  men,  or  at  least  of  the  great  majority,  the  use  of  white 
paint  and  rouge  makes  them  hideous  and  disgusting; 
and  that  rouge  by  itself,  both  ages  and  disguises  them/ 

We  are  not  told  that  it  made  any  difference  whatever 
what  the  men  thought,  and  from  our  own  experience 
we  "imagine  there  was  nothing  to  tell.  The  probability 
is  they  painted  on,  increasing  in  skill,  and  that  in  the  end 
the  stern  sex  bowed  submissively  to  fashion's  mandate 
and  woman's  whim  even  if  naught  of  nature  remained 
by  which  a  human  being  could  be  identified.  Mme.  de 
Sevigne  describes  a  dress  given  to  Mme.  de  Montespan 
as  "a  gown  of  gold  upon  gold  material,  in  gold,  bor- 
dered with  gold  upon  which  was  a  band  of  gold  mixed 
with  a  particular  kind  of  gold,  and  forming  the  most 
divine  material  that  could  ever  be  imagined."  This 
is  interesting  to  contrast  with  a  description  given  of 
Mile,  de  la  Valliere  in  1660,  who  was  dressed  in  white, 
"simply  embroidered  with  gold  stars  and  leaves  in 
Persian  stitches,  and  a  pale  blue  sash  tied  in  a  large  knot 
below  the  bosom.  In  her  fair  waving  hair,  falling  in 

165 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

profusion  about  her  neck  and  shoulders,  she  wore  flow- 
ers and  pearls  mixed  together.  Two  large  emeralds 
shone  in  her  ears,  and  her  arms  were  bare  and  encircled 
above  the  elbow  by  a  gold  open  work  bracelet  set  with 
opals." 

By  1670  women  of  rank  were  all  wearing  an  under- 
skirt of  glace  satin,  with  an  overskirt  trailing  behind 
and  carried  over  the  left  arm.  Sleeves  were  short, 
puffed,  and  trimmed  profusely  with  lace  and  ribbon. 
Bodices  reached  to  the  hips,  fitting  at  the  waist.  The 
underskirts  had  two  rows  of  trimming  and  the  overskirt 
one.  As  the  century  progressed  costumes  became  more 
and  more  a  symbol  of  rank,  and  less  and  less  individual 
in  their  conception,  so  that  by  1683,  or  the  beginning  of 
the  third  period  in  the  development  of  this  grand  style, 
the  court  became  weary  of  ceremonial  restrictions. 
By  1700  these  were  boring  them  to  extinction  as  well  as 
the  heavy  and  hypocritical  "outward  observances" 
inaugurated  by  Mme.  de  Maintenon  and  rigidly  in- 
sisted on  after  her  marriage  to  the  king,  by  which  she, 
through  the  king,  sought  to  control  not  only  the  con- 
science of  the  court  but  the  outward  manifestation  of 
life  as  well.  She  thought  perchance  to  atone  through 
"precise  observance"  for  a  part  of  the  wrongs  already 
committed.  This  wrote  the  final  chapter  in  this  par- 
ticular manifestation  of  seventeenth  century  material- 
ism. 

"Towards  1700,"  writes  Michelet,  "the  women  of 
the  time  no  longer  show  the  classic  features  of  a  Ninon, 
or  a  Montespan,  nor  the  rich  development  that  they  so 
freely  displayed.  But,  the  devil  was  no  loser.  If 
backs  and  shoulders  are  concealed  from  our  gaze,  the 
166 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ITALY 

small  portion  that  we  are  permitted  to  admire,  and  that 
is,  as  it  were,  offered  to  our  inspection,  is  but  the  more 
attractive.  There  is  a  sort  of  audacity  about  the  un- 
covered brow,  the  hair  drawn  back  so  as  to  show  its 
every  root,  the  high  comb,  or  the  diadem-cap,  that 
seems  little  in  harmony  with  the  soft  and  childish  feat- 
ures of  the  day.  This  childishness,  so  devoid  of  inno- 
cence, combined  with  the  masculine  Steinkirk,  gives 
them  the  appearance  of  pets  of  the  seraglio,  or  of  impu- 
dent pages  who  have  stolen  women's  garments." 

The  social  life  of  this,  the  great  period,  of  Louis  XIV, 
was  well  founded  on  a  system  of  ceremonial  formalism, 
and  its  expression  was  adequately  crystallized  in  terms 
of  gorgeous  materialism,  awesome  and  grandiose,  but 
without  soul,  and  at  its  end  without  even  the  attraction 
of  individual  or  personal  charm. 

The  story  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  Italy  is  a 
recital  of  the  epidemic  in  art  expression  known  as  the 
Baroque.  The  art  expression  of  the  sixteenth  century 
was  idealistic  and  optimistic  even  if  it  was  sometimes 
heavy  and  gorgeous,  while  that  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury was  pompous  and  fanatically  materialistic.  It 
had  its  birth  in  the  gradual  decay  of  the  ideals  of  the 
Renaissance .  and  in  the  general  revolt  of  individualism 
against  classicism.  Vernon  thus  describes  this  arrog- 
ant new  manifestation  of  flamboyant  materialism:  "It 
signified  a  revolt  of  individualism  against  classic  rules, 
a  craving  after  novelty,  an  avoidance  of  simplicity  at 
whatever  cost,  too  often  merely  culminating  in  the 
bizarre.  .  .  .  Classical  fronts  are  put  to  old 
churches,  the  architraves  often  without  any  building 
behind  them;  the  orders  of  architecture  are  hopelessly 

167 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

mixed ;  columns  of  fantastic  shapes  are  painted  or  decor- 
ated with  bronze;  sometimes  they  are  broken,  some- 
times appear  to  fall,  but  are  supported  by  a  muscular 
angel.  In  one  case  at  least  they  stand  upside  down. 
There  are  crooked  lines,  uneven  angles,  ornaments 
used  as  supports,  the  heavy  parts  made  to  appear  light. 
Painted  imitations  of  marble  vaunt  themselves  shame- 
lessly. The  colossal  is  admired  simply  on  account 
of  its  size.  And  it  is  all  over-loaded  with  decoration; 
statues  stand  at  every  corner,  sit  on  cornices,  peep 
under  arches.  Fat,  simpering  angels  sprawl  and  wave 
fluttering  inscriptions.  Poly  chromic  decoration  is  im- 
mensely popular;  its  apotheosis  is  reached  in  the  Chapel 
in  S.  Lorenzo  built  as  their  family  mausoleum  by  the 
Medici  Dukes,  and  covered  all  over  with  patterns  in 
coloured  marble  and  precious  stones.  Sculpture  and 
painting  show  the  same  tendency  to  frenzied  agitation, 
strained  attitudes,  flying  garments,  over-loaded  detail. 
Some  artists  incline  toward  false  sentimentality,  others 
toward  a  disagreeable  realism,  loving  to  depict  the 
horrors  of  martyrdom,  and  ministering  to  the  most 
depraved  tastes  under  the  pretence  of  aiding  devotion." 

The  Baroque  was  found  in  any  place  where  the 
church  or  social  life  stood  panting  for  a  new  sensation, 
and  creative  invention  promised  to  satisfy  its  demand. 
It  flourished  most,  perhaps,  at  Rome,  Venice,  and 
Naples,  although  there  are  some  other  local  manifesta- 
tions quite  as  individual  and  just  as  interesting.  Rome 
is,  however,  usually  called  "the  cradle  of  the  Baroque 
style." 

During  the  first  half  of  the  century  Italy  was  practi- 
cally in  the  hands  of  Spain,  which  had  an  ever-increasing 
168 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ITALY 

influence  until  about  1650,  at  which  time  French  influ- 
ence began  to  make  itself  felt,  becoming,  by  the  end  of 
the  century,  or  at  least  early  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, practically  supreme.  Naturally,  then,  the  first 
half  of  the  century  was  a  struggle  to  express  in  terms  of 
material  the  half  Italian,  half  Spanish,  stilted  and 
grandiose  life  which  had  grown  up  in  Italy  under  Span- 
ish rule,  and  to  do  so  in  such  a  manner  as  to  conform  to 
the  prevailing  anti-classic  attitude. 

"Ingenious  invention"  was  ever  active  and  in  the 
decorative  excesses  and  blatant  extravagance  of  this 
period  may  be  discovered  the  motifs  which  formed  the 
basis  for  most  of  the  decorative  designs  throughout 
Europe,  during  this  and  a  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Beyond  this  there  was  still  in  Italian  consciousness 
that  sensitiveness  to  beauty,  that  experience  of  the 
Renaissance  with  its  exquisite  taste  development  and 
that  inborn  respect  and  love  for  the  best,  that  forbade 
even  Venice  a  complete  surrender  to  the  sweeping 
hurricane  of  the  Baroque.  Molmenti  has  this  to  say  of 
the  matter: 

"But  in  Venice,  even  in  the  Seicento,  in  the  midst  of 
the  flood  of  barocco  which  threatened  to  sweep  all  be- 
fore it,  we  may  still  discover  a  limpid  stream  of  purest 
taste.  The  early  art  found  its  votaries,  and  the  works 
of  the  old  masters  and  antique  objects  of  virtu  were 
sought  for  and  collected  with  loving  discrimination  by 
patricians,  prelates,  bankers,  and  merchants. 

"This  rich  store  of  precious  objects  began  to  stimulate 
the  cupidity  of  foreign  amateurs,  and  to  rouse  the 
greed  of  gain  in  the  breasts  of  certain  degenerate  Ven- 
etians, and  there  came  into  being  that  trafficking  in 

169 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

works  of  art  which  the  Republic  endeavoured  with 
some  success  to  hold  in  check." 

At  the  close  of  the  century  a  demand  arose  for  the 
formation  of  an  academy  to  preserve  the  art  treasures  of 
Venice  from  foreign  spoliation,  and  we  are  told  to  our 
gratification  that  when  England,  France,  or  other 
countries  wanted  to  acquire  and  use  Venetian  art 
masterpieces,  Venice  saw  to  it  that  they  paid  a  good 
round  price  for  the  thing  which  they  could  not  them- 
selves produce. 

Notwithstanding  the  influence  of  Spain  in  Italy, 
Venice,  "the  majestic  city  of  the  sea,"  continued  well 
toward  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  to  hold 
a  position  of  individuality  because  of  her  geographic 
position,  form  of  government,  and  her  traditions  re- 
garding wealth,  fashion,  and  amusement.  The  city  was 
filled  with  places  of  entertainment  to  suit  the  taste  of 
every  type  of  mind  and  "every  degree  of  moral 
shadow."  It  is  said  that  every  "satiated  rake"  in 
Europe  found  his  way  at  some  time  during  the  year  to 
Venice,  where  no  matter  what  his  state  of  mind,  it  was 
sure  to  find  a  new  channel  and  to  experience  a  new 
sensation.  This  condition  of  abandon  to  sense  enjoy- 
ment, perhaps  the  most  complete  yet  seen,  is  to  be 
considered  as  contrasted  against  a  background  of  art 
and  culture  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
and  in  the  light  also  of  an  all  too  evident  truth  that 
Venice  had  reached  the  zenith  of  her  power,  and  that 
already  the  slow  decay  and  disintegration  of  this  great 
and  ancient  civilization  had  set  in,  although  for  a 
century  or  more  yet  the  laugh  and  revel  went  on  loud 
and  ever  more  hectic,  until  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
170 


MIDDLE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.   CHARACTERISTIC  FASH- 
IONS OF  THIS  PERIOD  FROM  NORTHWESTERN  EUROPE. 


MIDDLE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  GERMAN.  THE  AP- 
PLICATION OF  FOREIGN  FASHION  AND  DECORATION  CHARACTERIS- 
TICALLY WORKED  OUT. 


ABOUT  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  SPANISH. 
THIS  ILLUSTRATION  SHOULD  BE  COMPARED  WITH  EACH  OF  THE 
FIVE  PRECEDING  ONES. 


PAST  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  -  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH. 
CONSIDER  THE  SUBTLE  RELATIONSHIP  AND  THE  RESTORATION  OF  THE 
IDEA  OF  A  HUMAN  BODY  TO  CLOTHE  INSTEAD  OF  TO  HANG  MATERIALS 
ON. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ITALY 

century  it  had  entirely  spent  itself.  The  manifestation 
of  this  great  civilization  in  the  form  of  architecture  and 
other  visual  arts  alone  remains  to  awe  us,  &nd  to  stimu- 
late an  imagination  seeking  in  vain  to  comprehend  the 
"glory  that  was  hers,"  and  the  vast  range  of  semi- 
barbarism,  culture,  and  sensuality  that  she  had  lived 
through  and  contributed  to  some  extent  to  other 
peoples  less  finely  strung,  less  fortunately  situated,  less 
richly  endowed,  and  less  self-indulgent. 

Amidst  all  this  the  fact  remains  that  an  art  sense 
lingered  still,  active  in  spite  of  the  triumph  of  sensual- 
ism. It  is  this  fact  that  lends  a  charm,  a  positive 
fascination,  in  fact,  to  the  Venetian  social  arts,  material 
as  they  are,  that  is  perhaps  wanting  in  the  same  material 
expression  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  France  and 
absent  entirely  in  that  of  England,  particularly  in  that 
pertaining  to  the  first  half  of  the  century. 

French  and  Spanish  fashions  came  into  Venice  after 
the  middle  of  the  century.  At  first  they  were  accepted 
in  principle  only,  but  rendered  in  terms  of  Venetian 
feeling  and  appreciation,  the  same  magnificent  materials 
exquisitely  used,  the  same  gorgeous  colours  combined  in 
the  same  taste.  The  established  habits  of  class  distinc- 
tion, too,  seem  to  have  been  little  disturbed  at  first. 
Gradually,  however,  as  the  pompous  and  stilted  power 
of  the  new  Spanish  aristocracy  made  itself  felt,  and  as 
the  magnificent  machine  of  Louis  XIV  began  to  func- 
tion, extending  its  influence  to  every  country  of  Europe, 
the  fashions  of  Spain  and  France  were  accepted  in 
letter  as  well  as  spirit,  and  imitations  of  foreign  man- 
ners, customs,  and  habits  were  followed  by  an  earnest 
attelnpt  at  imitation  in  dress. 

171 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Molmenti  says  that  "the  gown  or  toga  always  re- 
mained obligatory  for  the  patricians,  though  it  gradu- 
ally lost  its  popularity  in  spite  of  its  becomingness." 
The  nobles  adopted  the  fashion  of  leaving  the  black 
toga  open  in  front,  to  show  off  their  gay  and  highly 
coloured  garments  underneath,  and  later  in  the  century 
they  threw  it  off  as  soon  as  they  left  the  council  chamber 
that  their  finery  might  be  visible;  in  this  is  seen  the 
complete  surrender  by  the  Venetian  aristocracy  to 
fashion's  dictates  and  folly's  whims.  Another  author- 
ity says:  "Fashion  in  fact  became  more  and  even 
more  licentious,  until  a  writer  of  the  Seicento  expresses 
a  doubt  whether  the  young  men  of  Italy  intend  to 
change  their  sex  altogether."  Another  satirist  paints 
"the  young  bloods  of  Venice"  in  most  discouraging 
terms  of  complete  capitulation  to  the  senses  and  to  the 
vulgar  show  of  effeminacy. 

The  Venetian  nun,  Arcangela  Tarabotti,  tells  us  that 
the  men  were  far  vainer  than  the  women  and  decked 
themselves  out  in  plush,  velvet,  and  damask,  in  shirts 
of  the  finest  linen  trimmed  with  Mechlin  lace,  "all 
bedizened  with  braid,  with  gold  and  silver  tags,  with 
lace,  with  rings,  English  hose,  tight  shoes  which  gave 
them  small  feet,  and  at  the  points  enormous  rosettes, 
embroidered  sashes  around  their  waists  and  with 
braces  to  keep  up  their  breeches." 

After  the  middle  of  the  century  when  the  French 
fashions  had  begun  to  make  themselves  felt  we  read 
"that  effeminate  French  costumes  of  doublet  and 
J  waistcoat"  were  coming  into  fashion.  They  were 
made  of  embroidered  silk  and  were  worn  with  white 
silk  stockings  and  shoes,  with  gold  or  silver  buckles,  a 
172 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ITALY 

three  cornered  hat,  and  ruffles  of  lace  at  the  wrists  and 
breast.  The  coat  was  made  of  silk  or  cloth.  This 
fashion  in  its  entirety  was  adopted  both  by  the  nobles 
and  by  the  middle  class  who  vied  with  the  nobles  for  "a 
first  place  in  ostentation." 

It  seems  that  in  Venice  as  in  France  young  people 
began  to  plaster  their  hair  with  pomatum  and  also  to 
cover  it  with  powder,  a  practice  which  was  character- 
ized as  "scarlet  and  wanton."  Only  a  little  later  they 
were  found  with  "silver  back  combs,  rouge  pots, 
scissors,  pins,  curling  irons,  brushes,  soap  and  looking 
glasses,  and  a  thousand  other  accessories  to  cope  with 
feminine  neatness." 

Tarabotti  rebukes  those  who  curl  their  beards  and 
moustaches  with  curling  tongs  and  paste  them  shiny 
with  citron.  Another  writer  declares  that  "a  man 
without  a  beard  is  hardly  worthy  of  the  name  of  man, 
his  beard  being  the  greatest  proof  of  his  manhood."  In 
1657  one,  Foscari,  was  berated  for  being  such  a  boor,  an 
ancient  and  one  opposed  to  all  progress  because  he  still 
wore  a  beard  and  cut  his  hair.  These  several  comments 
oh  the  fashions  of  the  sterner  sex  are  recorded  to  vary 
the  monotony  of  always  illustrating  the  trend  of  style 
by  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  ladies  of  the  day,  and  also 
because  the  decades  of  the  last  half  of  the  century  in 
their  completeness,  as  enriched  by  the  ancient  grandeur 
of  Venice,  are  better  seen  from  this  angle.  The  change 
from  the  haughty  grandeur  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
century  nobles,  and  the  calm  and  dignified  simplicity  of 
the  middle  classes,  to  the  sensuous  materialistic  deca- 
dence of  the  seventeenth  century  marks  one  of  the  strang- 
est swings  of  nature's  pendulum  recorded  in  history. 

173 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Of  amusements  the  Venetians  were  inordinately 
fond.  Much  time  was  spent  by  them  in  music,  the- 
atricals, and  dancing.  Feasting  and  gaming  of  all  sorts 
were  universal.  Dining-tables  were  always  set  for  un- 
expected guests  who  might  come  in  at  any  time,  nobles 
vying  with  one  another  to  see  who  could  have  the  most 
noted  visitors  and  produce  the  most  "costly  and 
succulent  meals." 

In  the  country  villas  of  the  patricians  life  was  as  gay  as 
in  Venice  itself.  Molmenti  thus  describes  one  of  these 
entertainments : 

"In  the  Seicento  the  Procurator  Marco  Contarini 
gave  a  series  of  simply  amazing  theatrical  performances 
in  his  villa  at  Piazzola.  In  November,  1679,  Dr. 
Piccioli's  drama,  Le  Amazzoni  nelle  Isole  Fortunate,  set 
to  music  by  Carlo  Pallivincino,  was  put  on  the  stage; 
and  the  following  year  and  in  the  same  month  the 
Berenice  Vendicativa,  set  to  music  by  Domenico  Freschi. 
Invitations  were  issued  to  princes,  both  foreign  and 
Italian,  to  ambassadors,  nobles,  Venetian  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  the  mainland.  The  hall  was  capable  of 
holding  a  thousand  persons,  and  was  lit  with  wax 
candles;  the  boxes  were  adorned  with  gilded  stucco  and 
mirrors,  while  on  each  side  of  the  stage  stood  two  great 
statues  of  elephants.  The  curtain  was  of  crimson  vel- 
vet with  gold  lace  for  the  first  performance  and  of  gold- 
coloured  velvet  for  the  second.  When  the  curtain 
rose,  all  the  lights  were  extinguished  in  the  hall,  and  the 
stage  alone  appeared  brilliantly  illuminated.  There 
were  three  hundred  performers,  and  coaches,  tri- 
umphal cars,  and  as  many  as  one  hundred  horses 
crowded  the  stage." 
174 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

We  read  with  amazement  of  the  hosts  of  coaches, 
berlins,  sedan  chairs,  carved  and  gilded,  with  the 
coachman  and  other  lackeys  in  brilliant  liveries  of  gold 
colour  and  lace.  Coaches  were  lined  with  velvet  and 
damask  and  some  were  set  with  precious  stones.  To 
picture  in  imagination  these  villas  with  their  enchanting 
gardens,  their  gaily  decorated  rooms,  and  the  care-free 
people  seeking  only  amusement,  sense  enjoyment,  and 
appetite  satisfaction  through  show  and  more  show,  is  to 
sense  in  part  the  quality  of  the  particular  brand  of 
materialism  that  Venice  contributed  to  that  powerful 
wave  which  completely  engulfed  the  ideal  of  the 
Renaissance,  matured  to  ripeness  the  mad  conceptions 
of  the  Baroque,  and  prepared  this  city  and  its  people 
for  the  wild  orgies  in  which  they  completely  lost  them- 
selves during  the  social  development  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

To  attempt  to  trace  the  Baroque  in  Rome,  or  in  any 
other  large  city  of  Italy,  would  require  a  chapter  by  it- 
self. Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  principles  involved  were 
the  same  in  all  cases,  the  results  identical  in  quality 
though  differing  in  material,  and  that  while  trying  to 
reach  the  spirit  through  the  senses,  the  church  has  left 
us  a  record  of  its  success  in  its  bombastic  churches, 
papal  tombs,  Baroque  accessories  to  the  ceremonial,  and 
in  the  records  of  the  lives  of  those  who  participated  in 
the  development  of  this  ideal. 

NC  In  spite  of  Spanish  and  Italian  influences  during  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII,  with  German  and  Flemish  in  the 
days  of  Elizabeth,  England  was,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  still  just  about  as  English  as  she 
was  a  century  before.  True,  the  country  had  accepted 

175 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

some  of  the  new  culture  as  developed  under  Renaissance 
influence,  and  these  ideas  had  slowly  percolated  into  the 
lives  of  the  nobles,  taking  some  hold  on  the  minds  of  the 
middle  classes,  particularly  the  intellectuals  and  the 
great  traders.  This  was  not,  however,  wholehearted  as 
it  was  in  France.  These  ideas  were  not  allowed  to 
displace  natural  traditions  in  an  organized  form.  This 
last  fact,  that  is,  the  determination  of  British  mind  to 
preserve  inviolate  not  only  British  ideas  and  traditions 
but  British  ideals  of  individual  liberty  of  thought  and  of 
action,  is  clearly  seen. 

That  is  the  principal  reason  for  the  lack  of  organized 
development  in  Britain  which  many  critics  have  noted, 
and  is  also  the  real  reason  for  the  special,  individual  high 
lights  in  some  forms  of  British  art,  as  well  as  for  the  in- 
different and  clumsy  art  attitude  of  the  masses  of  the 
people,  be  they  high  or  low  in  the  social  scale. 

This  same  individual  ideal,  in  part  at  least,  accounts 
also  for  the  failure  to  crystallize  a  monarchic  social 
life  so  that  the  art  expression  of  it  should  be  a  homo- 
geneous organized  unit.  Instead,  the  buying  of  art 
objects  is  left  to  an  expert  with  a  keen  intellectual  sense 
of  their  intrinsic  and  money  value  (even  unto  this  day) 
while  foreign  fashions  are  accepted,  and  foreign  objects 
of  art  are  used  to  express  their  ideas  of  fashionable 
social  life. 

In  1603  the  Tudor  dynasty  was  finished.  James  I, 
the  first  of  the  Stuarts,  ascended  the  throne.  From 
this  reign  on  we  connect  in  an  intimate  way  the  develop- 
ment of  American  Colonial  life  with  the  life  of  the 
older  European  countries,  particularly  with  England 
and  France,  both  of  whose  ideals  were  to  play  an  im- 
176 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

portant  part,  but  in  which  those  of  England  were  to 
become  dominant.  This,  too,  is  the  reign  in  which 
Shakespeare  died,  Bacon  was  active,  the  Thirty  Years 
War  was  begun  in  England,  and  most  important  of  all, 
the  contest  between  the  religious  factions — Romanists, 
the  established  church,  and  the  Protestant  dissenters — 
which  lasted  in  one  form  or  another  for  a  century  or 
more,  greatly  influenced  social  life,  and  consequently 
its  expression  in  clothes. 

For  James  I  himself  there  is  nothing  agreeable  to  say, 
for  his  queen  nothing  either  way,  so  that  any  social 
development  within  the  court  worthy  of  note  was  im- 
possible. An  English  writer  of  fashion  says: 

"The  reign  of  James  the  First  is  not  very  fertile  in 
fashions,  and  that  monarch  did  not  introduce  a  single 
new  one  into  England.  He  himself  cared  not  for  adorn- 
ing his  person;  on  the  contrary,  a  love  of  ease  and  com- 
fort seems  to  have  banished  from  his  mind  all  wish  for 
vain  attire.  His  usual  costume  was  a  doublet,  quilted 
so  thick  that  it  could  resist  the  thrust  of  a  dagger,  and 
his  lower  garments  were  plaited  and  stuffed  to  the  ut- 
most extent.  But  when  out  hunting,  his  favourite  dress 
much  resembled  modern  trousers.  The  ruff,  too,  was 
not  forgotten,  and  he  sometimes  wore  a  hat  and  feather, 
but  was  highly  incensed  when  one  of  his  attendants 
wished  him  to  wear  a  Spanish  hat,  and  also  with  the 
prevailing  mode  of  placing  roses  on  the  shoes,  which  he 
said  made  him  look  like  a  ruff-footed  dove."  It  is  said 
that  when  James  came  to  the  throne  there  was  in  the 
wardrobe  of  royalty  in  the  Tower  of  London  an  im- 
mense stock  of  dresses  belonging  to  many  of  the  ancient 
kings,  but  that  he  in  his  parsimony  and  bad  taste  dis- 

177 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

posed  of  them  all,  much  to  the  disgust  of  those  for  whom 
they  had  either  a  "sentimental  or  a  curious"  interest. 
These  two  adjectives  are  illuminating,  as  well  as  the 
incident  of  James's  disposition  of  the  royal  wardrobe. 

The  quality  of  the  ruler,  however,  did  not  prevent  the 
natural  vanities  of  the  people  from  some  manifestation 
in  the  matter  of  costume.  We  find  them  wearing  silk 
garters,  puffed  in  great  knots  below  the  knees,  with 
yellow  silk  stockings,  and  their  cloaks  were  embroidered 
heavily.  On  the  other  hand  they  did  away  with  ex- 
pensive ruffs  and  took  to  broad  square  pointed  linen 
collars  without  plaits  or  lace,  as  ugly  no  doubt  as  the 
ideals  that  inspired  them.  These  were  starched  with  a 
yellow  starch  imported  from  France. 

One  of  the  events  of  the  reign  was  the  marriage  of  the 
Princess  Elizabeth  to  the  Prince  Palatine.  We  find 
her  clothed  very  simply  on  this  occasion  in  "white 
vestments"  with  her  hair  hanging  down  her  back,  and 
only  one  ornament,  a  diamond  set  in  jewels.  In 
contrast  to  this  simplicity  is  the  description  of  the 
costume  of  a  man  who  went  as  ambassador  to  the  court 
of  France  after  the  death  of  Louis  XIII,  in  1610: 

"The  cloak  and  hose  were  of  fine  beaver,  richly  em- 
broidered in  silver  and  gold,  particularly  the  cloak, 
within  and  without,  nearly  to  the  cape.  The  doublet 
was  cloth  of  gold,  embroidered  so  thick  that  it  could  not 
be  discerned,  and  a  white  beaver  hat,  suitable,  full  of 
embroidery  above  and  below." 

One  important  thing  shows  that  even  this  court  at- 
titude could  not  wholly  control  the  longing  for  an  idol 
to  exploit.  This  is  shown  by  the  introduction  of  foreign 
lace  which  by  the  end  of  the  reign  became  a  mania, 
178 


SAME  EPOCH  AS  THE  PRECEDING  ILLUSTRATION.  A  NATIVE  ENGLISH 
TASTE  ADAPTING  FRENCH  FASHION  ON  FRENCH  GROUND.  COM- 
PARE WITH  PRECEDING  FOR  FEELING. 


ABOUT   THE   SAME   EPOCH   AS   THE   TWO   PRECEDING  ILLUSTRATIONS, 
WITH   WHICH    THIS   ONE    SHOULD    BE    SEEN.       ITALIAN. 


THIRD  QUARTER  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  VENETIAN. 
THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XIV  IN  FRANCE,  WITH  VENETIAN  AND 
EASTERN  MATERIALS  AND  FEELING. 


LATE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  MILITARY  SOCIAL  FASH- 
IONS AT  A  TIME  IN  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XIV  ARE  WELL  PICTURED 
HERE. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

lasting  well  through  the  century,  as  evidenced  by  the 
costumes  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I  and  Charles  II,  and 
by  Vandyke's  portraits.  The  amount  of  lace  used,  and 
the  detailed  way  in  which  it  is  treated,  show  how  im- 
portant this  item  of  apparel  was  then  considered. 

If  the  period  of  James  I  lacked  the  inspiration  of  art 
or  fashion,  that  of  Charles  I  beginning  in  1625  made  up 
for  lost  time.  The  king  himself,  a  fashionable  devotee, 
married  Henrietta  of  France,  daughter  of  Marie  de' 
Medici,  whose  inherited  taste  and  early  training  were 
not  calculated  to  curtail  the  king's  desire  for  sumptuous 
show  or  extravagant  display.  The  French  court  now 
became  the  seat  of  manners  and  the  source  of  fashions. 
The  idiosyncrasies  of  the  English  king  and  his  favourites 
were  the  avenues  for  its  infiltration. 

About  the  end  of  the  last  reign  appeared  the  fashion 
for  men  of  wearing  ear-rings  and  also  "roses  stuck  in  the 
ears."  The  fashion  was  carried  over  and  fitted  the 
mental  state  of  this  reign  very  well.  Many  great 
changes  also  came  about.  The  hair,  for  example,  was 
worn  well  down  on  the  forehead,  well  parted,  and  the 
notorious  "love-lock"  (a  curl  on  the  left  side  of  the  head 
longer  than  the  rest  of  the  hair)  was  invented  by  the 
king  himself.  This  innovation  it  is  said  caused  more 
commotion  among  the  "staid  people  of  the  country" 
than  anything  the  king  had  done  thus  far.  With  the 
adoption  of  this  queer  fashion  beards  began  to  disappear 
and  the  faces  were  finally  clean  shaven.  This  is  a 
comfort  when  we  remember  the  love-lock. 

In  general  the  old  stiff  collars  went  and  the  new  soft 
falling  collars  of  the  Vandyke  style  came  in  their  place. 
Doublets  were  still  fashionable,  slashed,  puffed,  and 

179 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

embroidered.  The  sleeves  were  also  slashed  and 
bright  coloured  satins  were  puffed  in.  Lace  dangled  at 
the  wrists.  The  most  striking  fashion,  though,  was  the 
introduction  of  the  trunk  hose  which  an  authority  thus 
describes: 

"At  the  time  when  trunk  hose  came  in  fashion,  some 
young  men  used  to  stuff  them  so  with  rags  and  other 
like  things,  that  you  might  find  some  that  used  such 
inventions  to  extend  them  in  compass  with  certainly  as 
great  eagerness  as  the  women  of  all  classes  did  take 
pleasure  to  wear  enormous,  great,  and  stately  verding- 
ales;  for  this  was  the  same  affectation,  being  a  kind  of 
verdingale  hose." 

The  sugar  loaf  hat  was  worn,  powders  and  perfumes 
were  adopted  and  the  " delights  of  feminine  toilet"  be- 
came the  fashion  for  men.  John  Bulwer  quotes  this 
comment  on  the  dressing  of  the  hair: 

"Our  gallant  witty  noddles  are  put  into  such  a  pure 
witty  trim,  the  dislocations  of  every  hair  so  exactly 
set,  the  whole  bush  so  curiously  candied,  and  (what  is 
most  prodigious)  the  natural  jet  of  some  of  them  so 
exalted  into  a  perfect  azure,  that  their  familiar  friends 
have  much  to  do  to  own  their  faces;  for  by  their 
powdered  heads  you  would  take  them  to  be  meal- 


men." 


Peck,  the  antiquarian,  says  that  he  has  a  portrait  of 
Charles  I  and  adds  that  the  costume  portrayed  was  the 
usual  dress  of  men  with  the  addition  of  "thin  flimsy 
Spanish  leather  boots."  His  description  follows: 

"He  wore  a  falling  band,  a  short  green  doublet,  the 
arm-part  towards  the  shoulders  wide  and  slashed,  zig- 
zag, turned-up  ruffles,  very  long  green  breeches,  tied  far 
180 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

below  the  knee  with  long  yellow  ribbons,  red  stockings, 
great  shoe-roses,  and  a  short  red  cloak,  lined  with  blue, 
with  a  star  on  the  shoulder." 

The  fashionable  peculiarities  of  the  ladies  of  the 
period  are  pretty  well  embodied  in  the  following  rather 
extraordinary  questions  propounded  by  one  of  the  con- 
temporary writers  of  the  time: 

"Why  do  they  adorn  themselves,  with  so  many 
colours  of  herbs,  fictitious  flowers,  curious  needle- 
workes,  quaint  devices,  sweet-smelling  odours;  with 
those  inestimable  riches  of  precious  stones,  pearls, 
rubies,  diamonds,  emeralds,  etc.?  Why  do  they  crown 
themselves  with  gold  and  silver,  use  coronets  and  tires 
of  several  fashions,  deck  themselves  with  pendants, 
bracelets,  ear-rings,  chains,  girdles,  rings,  pins,  spangles, 
embroideries,  shadows,  rebatoes,  versicolour  ribands? 
Why  do  they  make  such  glorious  shows  with  their 
scarfs,  feathers,  fans,  masks,  furs,  laces,  tiffanies,  ruffs, 
falls,  calls,  cuffs,  damasks,  velvets,  tinsels,  cloths  of 
gold  and  silver  tissue?  .  .  .  It  is  hard,"  continues 
the  same  writer,  "to  derive  the  abominable  pedigree  of 
cobweb  lawn,  yellow-starched  ruffs,  which  so  much 
disfigured  our  nation,  and  render  them  so  ridiculous 
and  fantastical." 

Gowns  had  very  long  trains  and  left  the  shoulders 
entirely  bare.  Heels  of  shoes  were  so  high  that  Cowley 
declares  that  ladies  of  quality  can  no  longer  walk  except 
some  one  lead  them.  Earrings,  bracelets,  necklaces, 
rings,  and  every  kind  of  jewellery  are  frequently  men- 
tioned; buttons  set  in  diamonds,  emeralds,  and  rubies 
were  used,  and  one  man  is  rebuked  for  having  no  less 
than  twenty-five  suits  of  clothes  with  far  too  much  fine 

181 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

lace  upon  them,  and  for  bedecking  himself  with  sundry 
jewels. 

These  are  some  among  other  extravagant  and  queer 
exhibitions  of  an  inordinate  appetite  for  material  dis- 
y,  without  judgment  or  reason.  They  are  the 
distinctly  recognizable  echoes  of  the  French  court 
'  during  the  influence  of  Marie  de'  Medici,  and  the  sensu- 
ous ideas  and  mannerism  from  far-off  Venice,  whose 
fashions  yet  found  some  place  in  English  taste. 

But  all  this  was  not  English.  It  was  but  the  mate- 
rialism of  the  century,  epidemic  and  infectious,  brewed 
and  disseminated  throughout  Christendom,  and  ex- 
pressed by  each  nation  and  each  individual  in  its  own 
peculiar  way,  with  its  own  particular  weakness,  and 
with  its  own  avenues  of  filtration  for  the  ideas  which 
others  were  expressing. 

The  reign  of  Charles  I  happened  to  furnish  the 
avenue  for  French  infiltration,  and  the  quality  of  the 
court  consciousness  provided  the  particular  character- 
istics necessary  for  a  weak  imitation  of  this  imported 
expression. 

Puritanism  was  still  alive  in  England  and  at  this 
juncture  saw  its  golden  opportunity  in  the  execution  of 
Charles  I  in  1649.  As  it  was  then  conceived  it  was  well 
embodied  in  Cromwell,  Bunyan,  Milton,  and  other 
intellectual,  religious,  and  political  aspirants.  The 
history  of  the  next  ten  or  twelve  years  tells  the  story  of 
the  struggle,  political,  religious,  and  social,  between  the 
two  opposing  ideals  of  Charles  I  and  Oliver  Cromwell, 
Lord  Protector  of  England.  The  latter  is  described  as  a 
very  frugal  and  devout  man,  modest  in  his  clothes  and 
simple  in  his  habits,  and  we  would  respectfully  add, 
18-2 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

without  a  sign  of  aesthetic  sense  (if  such  a  thing  may  be) 
and  with  no  respect  whatever  for  the  beautiful  expres- 
sion of  any  other  idea  than  his  own,  and  none  for  that, 
for  it  had  none.  He  usually  wore  black  or  gray  with 
trunk  hose,  a  scarf  around  his  waist,  long  top-boots  and 
a  gray  hat.  We  notice,  however,  with  regret,  that  he 
always  preferred  velvet  to  cloth. 

Worldly  tastes  of  the  old  days  lingered,  however,  for 
one  of  the  courtiers  complains  bitterly  that  since 
Cromwell  came,  the  costumes  are  entirely  despoiled  of 
puffings,  slashings,  ribbands,  and  jewels.  He  might  find 
comfort,  though,  in  remembering  that  the  matter  of 
costume  was  not  the  only  one  in  which  the  Lord  Pro- 
tector indulged  in  indiscriminate  spoliation.  One 
courtier  persisted  and  wore  a  buff  very  highly  orna- 
mented coat  with  silver  trimmings,  slashed  sleeves 
stuffed  with  satin,  trunk  hose  trimmed  with  lace,  and 
russet  boots,  a  costly  lace  collar  and  a  sash  of  gold  lace. 
Thus  did  the  vanity  of  man  survive  even  the  mandates 
of  puritanism. 

A  portrait  of  a  lady,  done  in  1652,  shows  the  hair 
combed  flat,  braided  in  the  back  and  fastened  with  a 
knot.  Her  neck  is  covered  with  a  richly  ornamented 
handkerchief  with  deep  lace,  and  her  cuffs  are  of  the 
same.  She  has  slashed  sleeves  and  a  large  fan.  The 
affectation  of  a  modest  and  simple  humility  was,  how- 
ever, the  general  rule,  and  right  becoming  it  was  to 
many  a  person  no  doubt,  as  it  had  been  to  a  limited  few 
in  periods  before,  and  has  been  in  later  epochs  in  the 
march  of  human  development. 

Again  the  pendulum  swung  as  Charles  II  returned  to 
England  in  1660.  From  this  date  to  his  death  in  1685, 

183 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

and  really  to  the  flight  of  James  II  in  1688  (which  period 
may  also  be  discussed  in  general  terms  with  that  of 
Charles  II),  the  climax  of  French  influence  was  reached, 
a  complete  surrender  to  fashion  took  place  and  the 
extravagance  of  the  country  was  more  excessive  than  at 
any  other  time.  This  leaves  but  one  decade  of  the 
seventeenth  century  yet  unexpressed. 

If  the  costumes  of  the  period  called  Charles  I  were 
French  styles  filtered  through  English  mind  and  ex- 
pressed in  gorgeous  fashion  quite  un-English,  those  of 
Charles  II  certainly  were  no  less  French,  but  the 
British  mind  had  become  appreciably  less  dominant. 
One's  conception  of  the  period  is  stretched  to  the 
very  point  of  the  grotesque,  as  one  tries  in  vain  to 
comprehend  the  relation  between  the  type  of  human 
being  clothed,  and  the  clothes  that  were  hung  upon  it. 
Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  gentleman  of  that  time. 

As  early  as  1658  the  "petticoat  breeches,"  already  the 
vogue  at  Versailles,  crossed  the  Channel  and  invaded  the 
realm  of  Cromwellianism,  which  was  still  floundering  in 
the  aftermath  of  the  French  fashions  of  Charles  I  and 
his  court.  This  garment,  it  is  said,  was  not  so  far 
removed  from  the  Scotch  kilts  of  our  day  and  genera- 
tion, and  therefore  of  course  was  "picturesque  and 
perfectly  reasonable,"  but,  as  a  contemporary  writer 
remarks,  when  they  began  to  ornament  them  heavily 
with  ribbands  up  to  the  pockets  and  around  the  waist, 
wearing  a  ruffled  under  petticoat  with  the  lace  hanging 
down  below,  and  the  shirt  hanging  over  the  outside  of 
this,  it  was  too  much  for  the  stolid  and  well  mannered 
English  to  bear  even  when  worn  by  one  of  the  "Ex- 
quisites," a  by-product  of  about  1670.  It  is  only  fair 
184 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

to  say  at  this  point  that  the  fashion  disappeared  before 
the  close  of  the  reign,  and  even  Charles  is  described  as 
wearing  a  suit  all  of  one  colour  except  the  waistcoat,  and 
with  scarcely  any  lace.  This  was  after  the  "Self- 
denial"  period  of  Mme.  de  Maintenon  was  inaugurated 
at  Versailles,  however,  which  no  doubt  somewhat  in- 
fluenced the  impressionable  Charles  and  his  satellites. 

A  contemporary  historian  tells  us  the  "Noblemen, 
gentlemen,  learned  divines,  military  heroes,  grave 
judges  and  elderly  lawyers  all  followed  eagerly  in  the 
steps  of  fashion."  Lady  Fanshaw  thus  describes  the 
costume  of  her  husband,  who  was  ambassador  and  was 
received  in  audience  by  Philip  IV  of  Spain:  "Then 
came  my  husband  in  a  very  rich  suit  of  clothes  of  a  dark 
phillamot  brocade,  laced  with  silver  and  gold  lace,  nine 
laces,  every  one  as  broad  as  my  hand,  and  a  little  silver 
and  gold  lace  laid  between  them,  both  of  very  curious 
workmanship.  His  suit  was  trimmed  with  scarlet 
taffeta  ribbands;  his  stockings  of  white  silk,  upon  long 
scarlet  silk  ones;  his  shoes  black,  with  scarlet  shoe- 
strings, and  garters.  His  linen  very  fine,  laced  with 
rich  Flanders'  lace.  A  black  beaver  buttoned  on  the 
left  side,  with  a  jewel  of  1200  1.  value.  A  rich,  upright, 
curious  gold  chain,  made  at  the  Indies,  at  which  hung 
the  king  his  master's  picture,  richly  set  with  diamonds, 
and  cost  300  L,  which  his  majesty  in  his  grace  and  favour 
had  been  pleased  to  give  him  on  his  coming  from 
Portugal.  On  his  fingers  he  wore  two  rich  rings.  His 
gloves  were  trimmed  with  the  same  ribbands  as  his 
clothes,  and  his  family  were  richly  clothed,  according  to 
their  several  qualities." 

Pepys'  diary,  however,  describes  a  coat  of  the  same 

185 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

time  as  quite  like  those  of  our  day,  and  he  speaks  of  a 
suit  of  clothes  all  of  one  material.  This  seems  to  be  a 
decided  reaction  from  the  accepted  mode.  "Paint 
and  powder  were  supreme,"  writes  a  critic,  and  "noth- 
ing is  really  fashionable  unless  it  comes  from  France." 
Another  writer  declared  that  "we  are  so  much  addicted 
to  strange  apparel  that  there  is  scarcely  anything  Eng- 
lish about  us."  This  man  seems  to  have  struck  the 
nail  practically  on  the  head.  Not  only  was  there  not 
anything  English  in  the  fashions,  the  materials,  or 
their  uses,  but  there  was  no  strictly  English  sense  or 
feeling  in  their  adoption  or  exploitation  of  these  things, 
and  herein  lies  the  psychological  interest  in  the  phe- 
nomenon. 

The  same  writer  goes  on  to  say:  "And  how  much 
girdles,  gorgets,  wimples,  cauls,  crispings,  pins,  veils, 
rails,  frontlets,  bonnets,  bracelets,  necklaces,  slops,  slip- 
pers, round-tires,  sweet-balls,  rings,  earrings,  mufflers, 
glasses,  hoods,  lawn,  musks,  civets,  rose-powders, 
gessamy  butter,  complexion  waters,  do  cost  in  our  days 
many  a  sighing  husband  doth  know  by  the  year's  ac- 
count," which  sensation  evidently  doth  reappear  from 
time  to  time  unto  this  day. 

Many  gowns  at  this  time  began  to  resemble  draperies 
and  were  worn  very  low  over  the  shoulders  and  in  front, 
with  slashed  sleeves  and  plenty  of  jewels.  The  head 
was  trimmed  with  ribbands,  jewel  bands,  and  a  long 
curled  lock  of  hair  called  a  "heart-breaker."  Consider 
if  you  please  this  "heart-breaker"  and  the  "love-lock" 
of  the  gentlemen,  and  an  odd  impression  results. 

Doublets  £>f  gold  and  silver  tissue,  robes  of  blue  and 
crimson  interwoven  with  gold  or  silver  and  ornamented 
186 


LATE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  THE  TRANSITION  TO  THE  FIRST 
OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES  IS  WELL  GIVEN  IN  MATERIAL, 
CUT,  AND  LACK  OF  HEAVY  ORNAMENTATION. 


NEAR  THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  THE 
TRANSITION  IS  CLEARLY  MADE  HERE  TO  CLOTHES  DESIGNED  FOR 
THE  HUMAN  FIGURE,  WITH  A  DECORATIVE  SENSE. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

in  gold  patterns,  long  mantles  of  richest  silk  adorned 
with  precious  stones  and  caps  of  velvet  with  heavy  flung 
plumes  are  often  mentioned  as  belonging  to  the  general 
dress  of  the  nobles  in  this  age  of  splendid  show.  After  a 
time  the  gentlemen  and  ladies  both  so  completely  out- 
stripped the  fashionable  Charles  at  his  own  game  that 
he  made  a  solemn  and  public  declaration  of  what  he 
himself  would  wear  in  the  future,  thinking  thus  no  doubt 
to  curb  in  some  measure  the  headlong  extravagance  of 
his  people.  Let  us  see  what  Evelyn  says  in  his  diary 
of  the  king's  good  resolution  in  standardizing  his 
clothes : 

"1666,  October  18th.— To  court.  It  being  the  first 
time  his  majesty  put  himself  solemnly  into  the  Eastern 
fashion  of  vest,  after  the  Persian  mode,  with  girdle  and 
straps,  and  shoe-strings  and  garters  into  bouckles,  of 
which  some  were  set  with  precious  stones,  resolving 
never  to  alter  it,  and  to  leave  the  French  mode,  which 
had  hitherto  obtained  to  our  great  expense  and  re- 
proach. Upon  which  divers  courtiers  and  gentlemen 
gave  his  majesty  gold,  by  way  of  wager,  that  he  would 
not  persist  in  this  resolution."  It  is  not  recorded  that 
he  was  altogether  successful  until  the  English  fashion  of 
"preserving  an  outward  appearance  of  restraint"  in 
material  show  began  to  take  effect,  then  its  spirit  was 
caught  somewhat,  as  other  fashions  were.  Very  soon, 
however,  a  new  influence  was  injected  into  the  situation 
under  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  when  another 
combination  of  causes  produced  different  results. 

Under  James  II  there  were  detailed  changes  of  ex- 
pression but  little  change  in  mental  attitude,  and  thus 
the  Stuart  line  went  out,  with  a  record  for  lack  of  cul- 

187 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

ture  as  expressed  in  classicism,  but  an  admiration  for 
the  material  things  of  life  expressed  in  terms  of  fashion, 
frivolity,  and  splendour  as  un-British  as  it  was  unprofit- 
able to  a  conception  of  well  rounded  national  develop- 
ment, but  no  more  materialistic,  though  about  as  much 
so,  as  the  ideals  and  expression  of  Italy,  France,  and 
most  of  the  lesser  European  states. 

Following  the  flight  of  James  and  his  queen,  Mary  of 
Modena,  to  the  French  court,  came  the  arrival  in  1688 
of  William  of  Orange  with  his  wife  Mary,  who  was  the 
daughter  of  James.  He  was  crowned  king  of  England 
in  1689.  This  brief  reign,  to  1702,  with  that  of  Queen 
Anne,  sister  of  Mary  (1702  to  1714)  comprises  the 
period  of  Dutch  influence  in  England,  which  marked 
also  the  beginning  of  modern  English  life. 

It  seems  that  in  this  period  there  was  in  general  a 
continuance  of  the  fashions  of  the  time  of  Charles  II 
with  some  few  "Dutch  peculiarities"  and  slight  addi- 
tions in  mutters  of  detail.  The  very  high  head-dress 
which  came  into  style  in  1696  had  reached  such  an 
excess  and  had  become  so  universally  worn  that  the 
church  began  a  concerted  campaign  against  it.  A 
preacher  by  the  name  of  John  Edwards  thus  delivered 
himself  in  a  sermon  against  the  sin  of  pride : 

"This  is  the  pride  which  reigns  amongst  our  very 
ordinary  women  of  this^  day,  they  think  themselves 
highly  advanced  by  this  climbing  foretop.  All  their 
rigging  is  nothing  worth  without  this  wagging  topsail; 
and  in  defiance  of  our  Saviour's  words,  they  endeavour, 
as  it  were,  to  add  a  cubit  to  their  stature.  With  their 
exalted  heads  they  do,  as  it  were,  attempt  a  superiority 
over  mankind;  nay,  their  Babel  builders  seem,  with 
188 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

their  lofty  towers,  to  threaten  the  skies  and  even  to  defy 
heaven  itself." 

Another  preacher  in  evident  despair  observes: 

"Women  in  all  ages  have  taken  more  pains  than  men 
to  adorn  the  outside  of  their  heads;  and  indeed  I  very 
much  admire  that  those  female  architects,  who  raise 
such  wonderful  structures  out  of  ribbands,  lace,  and  wire, 
have  not  been  recorded  for  their  respective  inventions. 
It  is  certain  there  has  been  as  many  orders  in  these 
kinds  of  building,  as  in  those  which  have  been  made  of 
marble.  Sometimes  they  rise  in  the  shape  of  a  pyra- 
mid, sometimes  like  a  tower,  and  sometimes  like  a 
steeple." 

Hoops  also  had  such  a  vogue  that  a  contemporary 
observes  that  if  men  should  adopt  the  old-fashioned 
trunk  hose  a  man  and  his  wife  would  fill  any  one  single 
pew  in  church.  The  following  amusing  account  of  the 
hoop  craze  is  taken  from  the  "Spectator": 

"Since  your  withdrawing  from  this  place,  the  fair  sex 
are  run  into  great  extravagancies.  Their  petticoats, 
which  began  to  heave  and  swell  before  you  left  us,  are 
now  blown  up  into  a  most  enormous  concave,  and  rise 
every  day  more  and  more.  In  short,  sir,  since  our 
women  know  themselves  to  be  out  of  the  eye  of  the 
Spectator,  they  will  be  kept  within  no  compass.  You 
praised  them  a  little  too  soon  for  the  modesty  of  their 
head-dresses;  for  as  the  humour  of  a  sick  person  is  often 
driven  out  of  one  limb  into  another,  their  superfluity  of 
ornaments,  instead  of  being  entirely  banished,  seem 
only  fallen  from  their  heads  upon  their  parts.  What 
they  have  lost  in  height  they  make  up  in  breadth, 
and  contrary  to  all  rules  of  architecture  widen  the 

189 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

foundations  at  the  same  time  they  shorten  the  super- 
structure." 

Styles  in  petticoats  were  censured  as  indeed  were 
shoes,  gloves,  and  "too  many  curly  locks."  In  fact,  by 
1714  when  the  death  of  Anne  took  place,  an  era  was 
begun  lacking  originality,  in  complete  slavery  to 
fashion,  and  devoted  to  imitation  of  foreign  costumes. 
There  was  also  a  revolt  going  on  in  the  English  mind 
against  accepting  a  crystallized  monarchic  dictation  in 
any  of  the  social  arts,  for  absolute  dictation  from  the 
court  as  a  principle,  had  already  run  its  course  in  Eng- 
land. 

In  France  it  lingered  a  whole  century,  as  we  shall  see, 
but  individualism  was  born  in  England  and  its  growth 
and  general  acceptance  in  matters  of  art  was  remark- 
able. 

We  have  dwelt  at  great  length  upon  the  different 
manifestations  of  fashion  in  England  during  the  seven- 
teenth century,  perhaps  at  too  great  length,  yet  even 
though  this  book  is  not  a  .history  of  fashion,  it  is  a 
discussion  of  some  different  period  ideals,  expressed  in 
different  countries  under  different  circumstances,  a  fact 
which  justifies  in  some  measure  this  treatment.  At  no 
time  in  her  history  has  Britain  given  us  so  good  a 
chance  to  observe  how  she  gradually  but  completely 
submitted  her  perfectly  regulated  mind  to  the  influ- 
ences of  fashion,  and  to  foreign  ones  at  that.  In  this, 
her  seventeenth  century  is  unique.  Louis  XIV  died 
in  1715,  Queen  Anne  in  1714.  Venice  had  by  this  time, 
exhausted  herself  in  Baroque  splendour  and,  panting 
for  breath,  was  looking  about  for  some  sign  by  which 
she  might  seize  upon  new  and  untried  emotional  fields 
190 


THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH  ELEGANCE, 
REFINEMENT,  AND  GRACE  ARE  HERE  COMBINED  WITH  THE  EARLY 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  IDEAS  OF  COSTUME  AS  IT  RELATES  TO  SOCIAL 
LIFE. 


EARLY  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  FRENCH.  THE  LUXURY  OF  THE 
LATE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  MATERIALS  AND  THE  AMPLITUDE 
OF  CUT  IS  SHOWN  HERE  WITH  THE  EARLY  LOUIS  XV,  FASHION  IN 
HATRDRESSING  AND  IN  THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  NECK. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND 

in  which  to  spend  her  last  gasp  of  enthusiasm  and 
creative  instinct,  before  she  finally  resigned  herself  to 
the  obscure  and  disastrous  destiny  which  was  rapidly 
coming  upon  her. 

France  only  had  succeeded  in  developing  a  great 
institutional  structure,  an  autocracy  of  state,  religion, 
and  social  practices,  so  imposing,  perfect  and  effective 
when  seen  from  the  outside  only,  that  she  easily  com- 
manded not  only  the  attention  but  the  outward  respect 
of  all  Christendom.  Only  the  democratic  forces  of 
puritanism  and  of  republican  politics  were  against  her, 
and  they  were  not  powerful  enough  to  make  themselves 
felt  much  except  in  England  and  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  or  in  the  Colonies,  as  they  were  then  called.  It 
is,  however,  a  sad  commentary  that  even  there  the 
principles  of  liberty  of  thought  and  action  and  a  strict 
adherence  to  modesty  and  humility  in  social  life 
(which  causes  were  devoutly  espoused  by  the  colonists), 
seemingly  existed  mostly  in  the  minds  rather  than  in  the 
practices  of  the  people,  for  we  shall  see  in  the  next 
century  how  eagerly  the  good  folks  of  the  Colonies 
accepted  their  first  opportunity  to  "serve  God  and 
Mammon"  simultaneously  in  a  burst  of  hallelujah  at 
the  privilege. 

Spain  had  fallen  into  decadence;  her  successes  in  the 
new  world  had  spent  themselves  in  gorgeous  ostentation 
at  home.  Holland  had  begun  to  taste  the  exhilaration 
of  commercial  success  abroad,  and  Italy  was  wasting  in 
play  and  riotous  living  the  little  remaining  strength  she 
possessed,  while  the  rest  of  Europe  was  still  busy  finding 
suitable  materials  and  methods  by  which  and  through 
which  to  rise  to  material  international  prominence. 

191 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

At  the  end  of  the  century  two  great  social  ideals 
presented  themselves  for  eighteenth  century  solution. 
The  cultured,  amusing,  and  pleasure-loving  autocracy  of 
French  social  life,  and  the  individual,  democratic,  com- 
mercial and  domestic  social  life  of  England.  Both 
nations  had  at  the  opening  of  the  century  at  least  one 
inheritance  in  common,  namely,  a  century  of  national 
life  committed  to  the  ideal  of  materialistic  ambition, 
with  unbridled  display  in  exploiting  it;  all  this  per- 
chance to  the  total  neglect  of  many  of  the  essentials  of 
national  development. 


192 


CHAPTER  FIVE 

THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY    IN    FRANCE 
AND   ITALY 


IT  WAS  the  particular  function  of  the  eighteenth 
century  to  develop  the  institution  of  social  life  to  its 
highest  possibilities.  Power  and  pleasure  through 
cultured  interests „  subtle  characteristics,  and  personal 
charm  were  the  avowed  aims  of  society's  autocrats  at 
the  beginning  of  this  epoch;  and  we  shall  see  how  and 
when  the  sense  of  individualism  broke  the  autocratic 
spell  and  extended  its  influence  to  the  middle  classes, 
and  with  what  results.  In  realizing  its  aims  the  century 
was  successful,  and  France  was  still  the  most  important 
field  for  the  development  and  spread  of  this  eighteenth 
century  type  of  social  idealism. 

We  recall  also  that  France  offered  the  principal 
theatre  for  the  staging  of  medievalism,  although  its 
primary  element,  Christianity,  was  of  foreign  origin. 
It  took  the  institution  of  Chivalry,  as  France  conceived 
it,  however,  to  lay  the  foundation  for  what  finally 
developed  into  social  criteria  for  all  Christendom.  The 
incorporation  of  this  with  the  early  spiritual  ideal  was 
the  first  great  step  in  the  movement  which,  by  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  had  led  the  consciousness  of  civil- 
ized Europe  far  afield  in  the  paths  of  pure  materialism 
by  making  both  spirit  and  body  contribute  to  the  ideal. 

193 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Italy,  never  wholly  accepting  the  French  conception 
of  medievalism,  was,  even  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries,  being  slowly  brought  to  a  state  of  conscious- 
ness fitted  for  the  birth  of  a  new  ideal.  During  the 
fourteenth  century  it  came  into  being.  This  was  the 
Renaissance.  Around  this  wonderful  ideal  of  culture  a 
new  social  order  grew  up,  a  new  phase  of  life  was  to  be 
expressed,  and  in  Italy  its  conception  entered  into  the 
lives  of  the  people  and  was  externalized  in  a  perfection 
very  difficult  to  realize  in  these  commercial,  material- 
istic, and  practical  days. 

Adopted  by  other  countries  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  exploited  from  every  possible 
angle,  exhausted  and  depleted,  its  ideals  no  longer 
capable  of  functioning,  it  was  calmly  laid  away  and  the 
new  world,  grown  to  greater  stature,  conscious  of  more 
of  its  powers,  desires,  and  possibilities,  embarked  upon  a 
century  of  experience  in  which  social  life  (somewhat 
extended  to  the  middle  and  bourgeois  classes)  was  the 
avowed  object  of  existence,  with  the  spiritual  ideal  of 
medievalism,  the  cultural  ideals  of  the  Renaissance  and 
the  material  hypocrisy  of  the  tenth  century,  shadows 
only,  or  memories,  calculated  it  is  true  to  influence,  but 
in  no  sense  to  dominate  the  mental  urge  of  this  new 
century. 

France  again  became  the  theatre  of  development  and 
the  main  source  whence  sprung  the  inspiration  for 
the  refinements  of  social  intercourse.  Italy,  the  home 
of  the  ancients  and  of  the  Renaissance,  made  her 
contribution  of  culture  both  to  France  and  England. 
England  worked  out  the  practical  amenities  in  social 
setting,  and  the  new  world  furnished  much  of  the 
194 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

material  through  which  the  work  of  this  century  was 
accomplished. 

Louis  XIV  died  in  1715  after  a  reign  of  seventy-two 
years.  His  death  was  welcomed  with  a  real  sense  of 
relief  and  enthusiasm,  not  only  by  the  court  but  by  the 
nation  at  large.  The  poor  attributed  their  poverty 
to  his  extravagance;  the  court  felt  that  their  emancipa- 
tion from  the  restraints  imposed  by  the  King  and  Mme. 
de  Maintenon  had  been  accomplished,  and  that  they  were 
at  liberty  at  last  to  give  unbridled  expression  to  their 
wild  passion  for  amusement  and  sensual  enjoyment. 
They  craved  excitement.  Their  senses  clamoured  for 
stimulation,  and  the  pendulum  swung  to  complete 
abandon  to  the  gratification  of  their  desires  with  an  un- 
blushing frankness  that  beggars  description. 

During  the  long  reign  of  Louis  XIV  social  life  had,  in 
spite  of  the  autocracy  of  the  court,  made  wonderful 
gains  in  the  intelligence  of  its  conceptions.  This  was 
due  for  the  most  part  to  the  influence  of  the  great  minds 
of  the  men  and  women  who  lived  at  that  time  and 
extended  their  influence  through  writing,  or  contributed 
in  other  ways  to  the  general  knowledge  and  culture  of 
the  century.  Prominent  among  these  we  must  recall 
here  such  names  as  Corneille,  Racine,  and  Moliere;  La 
Fontaine,  Boileau,  and  Rousseau;  Voiture,  Balsac,  and 
Madame  de  Sevigne,  besides  Lenotre,  Mansard,  and 
other  architects  and  artists,  each  of  whom  had  no 
small  part  both  in  directing  thought,  and  in  creating  in 
all  fields  to  give  these  thoughts  expression. 

Louis  XV,  the  great  grandson  of  the  old  king,  was 
five  years  old  when  called  to  the  throne,  and  the 
Regency  was  vested  in  Philippe,  Duke  of  Orleans, 

195 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

nephew  of  Louis  XIV.  With  his  personal  scandals  and 
those  of  the  court  we  have  no  special  concern  here,  since 
by  comparison  with  what  was  to  come  they  may  be 
seen  merely  as  a  prologue.  It  is  therefore  sufficient  for 
our  purpose  to  class  the  whole  period  from  1715  to  1774 
as  the  period  of  Louis  XV,  and  to  trace  in  it  the  develop- 
ment of  a  new  style,  perhaps  the  most  surprising  as  well 
as  the  most  unique,  in  all  history. 

In  calling  up  a  picture  of  this  entirely  social  period 
it  is  necessary  to  think  in  terms  of  ideals  first.  The 
theory  of  the  ancients  had  been  debased  in  actual 
practice,  becoming  merely  an  excuse  for  supreme  appe- 
tite satisfaction,  in  which  refinement  of  manner  replaced 
the  spirit  of  the  original  idea.  The  theory  of  mediaeval- 
ism  was  forgotten  in  proportion  to  the  extent  to  which 
materialism  of  any  kind  had  been  associated  with 
spiritual  longings.  The  process  of  displacement  in 
France  was  practically  complete;  ethical  standards  were 
changed,  the  old  moral  standards  were  gone,  and 
agnosticism  in  religion  was  no  more  fashionable  nor 
universal  than  was  contempt  for  the  old  ethical  and 
moral  order. 

This  left  two  possible  impulses  to  be  stimulated,  and 
two  ends  only  for  which  to  live.  The  one,  cultivation 
of  the  wits  or  bringing  the  intellect  to  its  highest  point 
of  development  so  that x  sensation  and  indulgence  in 
mental  combat  became  a  life  interest;  the  other,  the 
cultivation  of  the  five  physical  appetites  to  their  highest 
degree  of  efficiency,  in  the  meantime  bending  every 
energy  toward  the  creation  of  means  by  which  to  satisfy 
these  appetites,  and  all  with  charm  of  manner  and 
perfect  abandon.  "The  art  of  conversation  was  held 
196 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

above  all  other  accomplishments,"  and  we  are  told  that 
"manners,  were  essential,  morals  optional."  We  are  not 
disposed  to  question  the  truth  of  this  assertion  from 
any  documentary  or  other  evidence  obtainable.  In  the 
second  aim  society  was,  if  anything,  more  successful 
than  in  the  first,  and  in  this  fact  lies  the  key  to  the 
atmosphere  of  the  social  life  of  this  period,  therefore  to 
the  quality  of  the  costumes  and  other  settings  for  this 
peculiarly  brilliant  and  fascinating  if  profligate  and 
extravagant  manifestation. 

The  court,  with  these  accepted  and  avowed  ideals, 
was  the  social  centre  from  which  emanated  costumes, 
manners,  and  fashions  which  practically  controlled 
social  life  for  the  greater  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
not  only  in  France,  but  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
So  far  as  the  general  art  expression  of  the  period  is  con- 
cerned it  may  be  called  the  legacy  (twice  removed)  of 
the  Baroque  style  in  Italy,  of  which  Bernini  may  be  said 
to  be  the  father.  By  him  it  was  imported  into  France 
in  the  days  of  the  Grande  Monarque. 

This  style,  which  flourished  in  the  seventeenth 
century  in  Italy,  exhausting  itself  in  effulgent  and 
grotesque  demonstration  there,  by  1700  was  tempered  in 
a  remarkable  degree  in  France  by  a  strong  classic  bias, 
particularly  in  architecture. 

The  great  palaces,  and  even  the  churches  built  in  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV,  are  remarkable  for  the  classic  ideas 
which  they  embody.  Even  the  most  elaborate  and 
ornate  decorative  material,  generally  sustained  by 
classic  mouldings,  was  otherwise  held  in  the  composed 
space  in  such  a  manner  as  to  suggest  control.  This 
mixed  idea  of  Baroque  grandeur  and  classic  formality  / 

197' 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

is  exactly  what  saved  the  art  of  the  period  from  gorgeous 
and  blatant  tawdriness. 

In  furniture  and  clothes  more  of  the  Baroque 
and  less  of  classic  restraint  is  felt.  The  element  of 
formality,  so  important  in  court  etiquette,  no  doubt, 
partly  explains  the  French  Baroque  style,  since  the 
mind  determines  the  externalized  quality. 

With  the  passing  of  this,  and  the  abandonment  of  all 
restraint  and  of  all  pretence  of  propriety  or  even  de- 
cency, respect  for  and  even  understanding  of  the 
classic  ideal,  or  its  manifestation  in  decoration,  was 
removed. 

One  of  the  strangest  phenomena  of  history  is  that 
shown  in  this  period  by  the  architects  of  France  who  were 
committed  to  the  interpretation  of  classic  ideals  solely, 
in  their  work,  and  at  the  same  time  manifested  a  total 
abandonment  of  all  classic  motifs  in  the  decorative  arts 
and  in  designs  for  social  costumes. 

Out  of  the  Baroque  style  of  Louis  XIV  grew  a  system 
of  decoration  known  as  Rocaille,  the  forms  of  which 
were  variations  of  the  shell  motif,  so  common  in  the 
previous  period.  This  rocaille,  contorted,  distorted  and 
twisted,  formed  the  basis  for  the  strange  but  sometimes 
remarkable  beauty  of  the  decorations  of  this  period,  the 
counterpart  of  which  has  never  been  seen,  and  the 
emotional  aesthetic  possibility  of  which  seems  only  to 
have  been  equalled  by  the  Gothic  fancies  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries,  the  latter  of  course  a  spiritual 
conception  and  the  former  simply  carnal.  The  purely 
aesthetic,  or  in  common  parlance,,  artistic,  quality  of 
these  two  examples  sometimes  seems  very  similar, 
while  the  spirit  and  material  of  the  two  periods  in 
198 


THIS  ILLUSTRATION  SHOWS  THE  SAME  PERIOD  FURTHER  DE- 
VELOPED. THE  STRICTLY  LOUIS  XV  MATERIAL,  THE  TRIMMINGS 
OF  THE  SAME  STUFF  ARRANGED  IN  HALF  ROCAILLE ,  MOVEMENT, 
AND  THE  CUT,  ARE  ALL  DISTINCTLY  CHARACTERISTIC.  THE  UPPER 
PART  OF  THE  WAIST  IS  EVIDENTLY  OF  LATER  ORIGIN. 


THIS  PORTRAIT  OF  THE  POMPADOUR  EXPRESSES  IN  MATERIAL,  CUT, 
AND  DETAIL,  THE  SANEST,  MOST  ELEGANT,  AND  MOST  DISTINC- 
TIVELY CHARMING  PHASE  OF  THE  STYLE. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

art  expression  are  entirely  different.  This  anomaly 
is  a  very  interesting  field  for  psychological  specula- 
tion. 

The  theatric  formalism  of  the  former  period  in  social 
life  being  removed,  society  reacted  not  only  in  its  ideals 
and  customs,  but  also  in  its  conception  of  the  home  and 
its  relation  to  social  intercourse.  In  the  older  period 
personal  parade  was  the  ideal,  hence  the  large,  for- 
mal and  public  appearance  of  all  the  rooms  as  well  as 
the  decorations  and  furnishings.  The  new  ideal  of 
privacy  and  intimate  personal  intercourse  made  smaller 
rooms  necessary,  more  of  them,  and  each  one  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  be  capable  of  private  use.  This  completely 
revolutionized  the  room  plans  of  the  house  as  well  as  the 
palace.  The  effect  on  the  wardrobe  was  analogous.  A 
greater  variety  of  clothes,  some  for  public,  others  for 
semi-public  or  private  use  was  essential.  This  relaxed 
the  pressure  for  splendid  display,  and  liberated  creative 
genius  to  work  for  greater  charm,  more  human,  and 
therefore  more  becoming  effects,  thereby  advancing  the 
art  of  dress  to  another  plane,  in  harmony  with  the  ideals 
that  were  to  dominate  eighteenth  century  develop- 
ment. Thus  another  element  was  bequeathed  to  us, 
helping  us  in  a  measure  to  understand  the  point  of  view 
of  the  twentieth  century,  which  is  but  the  composite  of 
all  that  has  gone  before. 

The  court  of  Louis  XIV  not  only  was  the  centre,  but 
practically  defined  the  limit  of  ideas  which  controlled 
the  customs  of  French  social  life  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  aristocracy  obeyed  its 
mandates  without  question;  the  bourgeoisie  followed 
when  permitted,  and  as  they  were  able.  The  masses 

199 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

had  no  time,  money,  nor  opportunity  to  think  in  terms 
of  social  life. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XV  the  court  was  no  less 
the  centre  from  which  social  France  took  its  cue  but  it 
was,  particularly  after  the  first  half  century,  by  no 
means  the  limit  of  ideas  and  fashions,  or  of  original 
customs  and  habits.  "Divine  Right"  dies  hard,  and 
traditions  and  old  practices  were  perhaps  subconsciously 
effective  after  disbelief  and  even  open  rebellion  were 
rife  everywhere  outside  of  Versailles.  This  explains  in 
part  the  somewhat  individual  development,  the  social 
charm,  and  the  worth  of  inventions  made  during  this 
period.  Though  it  was  a  period  of  complete  aristocratic 
domination,  creating  a  class  living  on  the  labours  of  other 
classes,  yet  it  was  left  for  this  period  to  develop  the  finer 
social  amenities  by  virtue  of  this  very  class  distinction. 

The  queen,  Marie  Leckzinski,  was  spoken  of  as  a  "good 
woman  and  not  too  uncomely,"  which  seems  encourag- 
ing, although  she  played  little  or  no  part  in  establishing 
a  standard  of  social  life.  So  far  as  the  morality  of  the 
court  is  concerned  it  matters  little  here,  except  that  the 
fickleness  of  the  king  brought  into  prominence  a  number 
of  women,  each  in  her  turn  serving  as  his  mistress  and 
each  having  a  large  share  in  the  dictation  of  manners 
and  styles. 

The  most  charming  of  these  was  doubtless  the 
Duchesse  de  Chateauroux,  the  most  important  Madame 
de  Pompadour,  and  the  most  astonishing  Madame  du 
Barry.  The  historian,  Rev.  E.  Cobham  Brewer,  thus 
describes  court  manners  in  speaking  of  these  women: 
"The  manners  of  the  court,  in  this  long  reign,  under- 
went three  distinct  phases.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
200 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

reign,  when  the  passions  of  the  king  were  under  some 
restraint,  there  was  a  slight  shew  of  decorum  preserved 
in  his  presence,  but  the  style  of  conversation  was  coarse 
and  blunt. 

"The  writings  of  Voltaire  and  Rousseau  brought  into  ' 
fashion  an  hypocritical  cant  and  mock  modesty. 
Virtue  was  universally  extolled;  decorum  was  paraded; 
everyone  professed  to  be  enamoured  of  rigid  morality 
and  rustic  innocence  of  life;  but  the  love  was  scarcely 
skin  deep;  and  those  who  praised  them  most,  were 
living  in  the  practice  of  all  ungodliness. 

"Towards  the  close  of  the  reign,  under  the  auspices  of 
Madame  du  Barry,  all  pretence  to  morality,  religion, 
and  decency,  was  given  up.  An  air  of  dissolute  frivolity, 
a  care-for-nobody  swagger,  and  mocking  supercilious- 
ness, were  the  airs  affected  by  the  great."  And  he  has 
this  to  say  of  the  various  mistresses:  "She  was  suc- 
ceeded [speaking  of  Mme.  de  Chateauroux]  in  the  post 
of  royal  favourite,  by  Madame  de  Pompadour,  the 
daughter  of  a  butcher,  and  wife  of  a  wealthy  farmer-of- 
taxes,  whom  she  abandoned  for  the  king.  Graceful 
and  beautiful,  animated  and  accomplished,  Madame 
de  Pompadour  directed  all  her  powers  to  amuse  and 
please  the  king,  but  selfishness  and  ambition  were  the 
springs  of  her  actions.  .  .  .  She  named  bishops 
and  generals,  as  well  as  ministers,  judges,  and  am- 
bassadors, but  her  choice  was  almost  uniformly  unfortun- 
ate. Voltaire  sang  her  praises;  Maria  Theresa  of 
Austria  disdained  not  to  flatter  her;  and  all  who  hoped 
for  promotion  bowed  down  before  her. 

"In  the  court,  the  old  noblesse  were  cast  into  the 
shade  by  a  new  moneyed  aristocracy  sprung  from  the 

201 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

middle  classes.  Bad  taste  and  frivolity  characterize 
the  period.  Women  of  position  amused  themselves  by 
breaking  plates  and  glasses;  and  men,  by  embroidery  or 
card  painting.  Even  magistrates  on  their  benches,  and 
grave  officials,  might  be  seen  pulling  the  string  of  some 
dancing  figure,  called  a  patin.  .  .  . 

"Louis  XV  was  getting  old  when  Madame  de  Pompa- 
dour died.  All  the  handsome  and  unprincipled  court 
ladies  strove  by  their  blandishments  to  become  her 
successor  but  a  common  courtesan,  Madame  du  Barry, 
the  daughter  of  a  gatekeeper  at  one  of  the  Paris  barriers, 
was  preferred  to  the  disgraceful  honour.  .  .  . 

"Madame  du  Barry  was  a  voluptuous  beauty,  all 
dimples.  Her  skin  fair,  mouth  small  and  rosy,  eyes 
sparkling  and  languishing,  hair  a  light  chestnut  colour 
and  admirably  curled.  At  the  death  of  the  king,  she 
retired  from  Court  and  lived  unknown  till  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  she  was  guillotined  for  aiding  the  escape  of 
emigrants." 

Authorities  disagree  in  some  particulars  with  this 
severe  and  reverend  historian,  but  in  the  main  his 
views  are  apparently  shared  by  people  in  general. 

Paris  and  Versailles  were  the  France  of  Louis  XV  and 
his  court,  and  because  of  their  excesses  in  habits  and  in 
fashions  the  whole  period  is  undoubtedly  too  severely 
criticized  by  some.  We , find  various  critics  railing  at 
the  "tawdry  fashions,"  the  "unblushing  immorality," 
the  "bad  taste  of  over-dress,  endless  rouge,"  and  the 
"audacity  of  expense,"  but  all  these  are  too  familiar 
assertions  concerning  other  and  earlier  periods  to  im- 
press us  very  deeply,  for  after  all  everything  is  relative, 
and  people  are  still  railing. 
203 


BY  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  CENTURY  THERE  WAS  CONSIDERABLE  FREE- 
DOM IN  INDIVIDUAL  INTERPRETATION.  ATTENTION  IS  DIRECTED 
TO  THE  OCCULT  BALANCE  IN  CUT  AND  ARRANGEMENT  WHICH  IS 
STRICTLY  IN  ACCORD  WITH  THE  DECORATIVE  TASTE  EVOLVED  AT 
THIS  TIME. 


EARLY  IN  THE  LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  CENTURY  (THE  PERIOD  OF 
LOUIS  XVI )  EXTRAVAGANCE  IN  MATERIAL,  STYLE,  AND  ORNA- 
MENTATION REACHED  ITS  CLIMAX.  IN  THIS  THE  QUEEN  LED. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

Outside  of  Paris  and  Versailles  quantities  of  the  most 
delightful  provincial  furniture  and  decorative  objects 
were  made,  and  doubtless  the  exquisite  follies  of  the 
court  in  dress  were  so  modified  elsewhere  as  to  take 
their  place  among  the  art  treasures  of  historic  costumes, 
as  indeed  were  some  of  the  follies  themselves. 

There  are  so  many  of  these  beautiful  things  to  be 
found  in  museums  and  private  collections  and  so  many 
illustrations  in  documentary  form  are  obtainable  that  it 
seems  unnecessary,  perhaps  superfluous,  to  speak  of 
costumes  individually  or  in  detail.  We  cannot  refrain, 
however,  from  recalling  the  delicious  brocades,  the  / 
exquisite  taffetas,  the  priceless  laces,  and  the  countless 
little  toilet  accessories,  so  rare  and  so  alluring  as  to  j  *^ 

leave  us  doubting  whether  ever  before  there  was  so  '     Q* 
enchanting  an  exterior  effect  coming  from  so  bewilder/^y 
ing  a  set  of  unbelievable  causes.  ^ 

It  was  in  this  period,  too,  that  sensuous  refinement  in 
colour  reached  its  climax;  hues,  values,  and  intensities 
were  so  subtle,  fascinating,  and  harmonious,  yet  so 
varied  and  illusive. 

In  no  form  of  expression,  not  even  in  that  of  orna- 
ment, did  there  seem  to  be  a  trace  discernible  of  the 
classic  qualities  of  simplicity  and  restraint,  so  com- 
pletely luscious  and  sensuous  did  the  colour  become. 

During  the  last  few  years  of  Louis  XV  the  classic 
reaction  had  taken  so  strong  a  hold  that  its  effect  on 
architecture  was  complete.  Furniture  and  the  decora- 
tive arts  responded  slowly,  while  fashion,  catering  as 
she  always  has  to  the  most  sensitive  and  insatiable  of 
human  desires,  was  very  slow  to  yield  to  classic  influ- 
ence. In  fact,  in  the  next  reign  the  interpretation 

203 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

would  indicate  that  no  part  of  the  classic  spirit  was 
ever  really  sensed  by  the  makers  of  fashion  in  clothes, 
as  it  was  sensed  in  painting,  architecture,  furniture,  and 
the  lesser  decorative  fields.  This  is  not  strange  when  we 
remember  how  flippant,  keen,  and  material  the  French 
mind  was  at  this  time  and  how  strong  must  have  been 
the  urge  not  only  for  a  new  sensation,  but  for  a  peculiar 
one.  Admitting  this,  we  see  unmistakable  signs  in  the 
last  decade  of  this  period  that  lighter  colour  values, 
clearer  and  less  subtle  intensities,  and  a  simpler  hue 
spectrum  were  beginning  to  make  their  appeal. 

While  in  the  field  of  design  fabrics  were  a  little  less 
richly  conceived,  plain  and  striped  taffetas  came  in. 
Cherubs  and  flowers  seemed  a  little  less  determined 
to  appear  ripe  and  full  grown,  while  some  of  the  gowns 
were  freer  from  decorative  idiosyncrasies  and  the  en- 
cumbrance of  enormous  hoops.  Some  of  the  great 
ladies  showed  a  delightful  simplicity  in  dressing  their 
hair,  when  compared  with  the  previous  fashion  or  with 
the  prevailing  mode  of  the  next  reign. 

Actually  the  dictation  of  fashions  in  the  period  of 
Louis  XV  was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  women  and  the 
motto  of  their  creation  was  evidently  "all  for  pleasure." 

During  the  Regency  dress  was  light  in  material ;  gowns 
were  cut  with  a  basque  and  pagoda  sleeves.  They 
were  also  much  trimmed  with  ribbon  bows.  In  1718 
paniers  were  worn  and  very  soon  their  circumference 
reached  eighteen  feet.  While  the  ladies  themselves 
seemed  to  like  these,  the  clergy  and  the  satirists  opened 
war  on  them.  Books  were  written,  sermons  preached, 
and  plays  performed,  all  given  over  to  the  idea  that 
nothing  but  discomfort  and  physical  disfigurement,  to 
204 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

say  nothing  of  waste  and  extravagance,  could  be  seen 
in  this  "most  disgusting  of  all  foreign  and  imported 
fashions." 

Ridicule  and  religious  contumely,  however,  were  as 
powerless  as  the  sumptuary  laws  of  old  had  been,  and 
the  panier  persisted  as  a  distinguishing  feature  of  this 
period  until  well  past  the  middle  of  the  century. 

About  1730  the  "Robe  Volante,"  a  loose  dress  with- 
out a  belt,  also  came  into  fashion.  This  piece  was  gen- 
erally of  silk,  white  or  rose,  and  was  worn  mostly  by 
young  girls  who  also  wore  silk  gauze  frocks  over  col- 
oured silk  slips.  Women  wore  the  smallest  possible 
shoes  and  carried  parasols. 

Among  the  accessories  of  dress  may  be  mentioned 
necklaces,  bags,  eyeglasses  mounted  in  gold  or  enamel, 
needlecases  and  crosses  of  gold.  The  hair  was  powdered 
and  the  face  painted  in  red  and  white,  the  paint  being 
often  so  thick  as  to  form  a  perfect  crust  over  the  face. 
Patches  and  paint  were  employed,  it  is  said,  even  in  the 
last  toilet  for  the  tomb,  and  when  this  occasioned  re- 
monstrance patches  appeared  in  greater  numbers 
"seeming  to  glory  in  their  triumph  over  every  oppo- 
sition." 

For  a  short  period,  about  1730,  the  fashion  of  exceed- 
ingly high  head-dresses  prevailed.  Lady  Mary  Mon- 
tague, who  visited  Paris  about  this  time,  says  of  the 
ladies:  "Their  woolly  white  hair  and  fiery  faces  make 
them  look  more  like  skinned  sheep  than  human  beings." 

About  1760  much  simpler  gowns  appeared,  hair  was 
more  plainly  dressed,  but  corsets  would  persist  not- 
withstanding the  efforts  of  the  doctors  and  critics  to 
displace  them.  Up  to  the  very  end  of  the  reign,  how- 

205 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

ever,  the  Pompadour  and  du  Barry,  together  with  their 
satellites,  who  either  aspired  to  positions  in  the  king's 
favour,  and  through  this  to  social  prestige,  or  had  other 
favours  to  ask,  remained  absolutely  true  to  the  arti- 
ficial and  superficial  in  all  things.  The  sort  of  refined 
harem-art  of  house  and  toilet  that  hypnotized  all  Eu- 
rope then,  has  by  no  means  lost  its  grip  even  on  some 
very  respectable  ladies  of  our  day,  who  persist  in  believ- 
ing that  even  now  the  flippant  art  snobbery  of  the 
king's  mistress  in  home  and  clothes  is  a  true  expression 
of  the  modern  lady.  Unhappily  they  (most  of  them) 
haven't  the  refinement,  the  taste,  or  the  power  of  a 
Pompadour,  nor  are  there  artists  who  can  or  will  pander 
to  their  whims,  and  besides,  the  antique  dealer  and  the 
costumer  are  merciless,  with  no  fear  of  the  wrath  of  a 
king.  This  is  perhaps  a  sad  conclusion  but  it  is  self- 
evident  even  though  disappointing  to  those  who  would 
see  their  time  as  one  of  a  great  social  taste  revival,  to 
equal  which  one  enthusiast  writes,  "no  period  since  the 
Renaissance  could  aspire." 

This  period  like  all  others  is  but  a  recital  of  increasing 
desires  for  novelty  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  of  new 
and  wonderful  creations  of  fashion  to  satisfy  every  one 
of  these  desires.  It  shows  also,  even  in  its  utter  aban- 
don in  the  matter  of  moral  and  ethical  standards,  the 
same  disposition  to  prate  on,  the  part  of  the  church  and 
the  moralists  against  some  special  indulgence  in  fash- 
ion's whim,  with  the  same  result  of  increasing  a  demand 
for  the  pet  sin,  in  direct  ratio  to  the  opposition  given  it, 
and  the  invention  of  others  more  unacceptable  than  the 
first. 

In  1774,  after  a  sixty  year  reign  of  incredible  abandon 
206 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

to  sense  gratification,  and  a  corresponding  inattention 
to  matters  of  state  and  of  international  development, 
Louis  XV  died  of  smallpox,  unlamented  and  almost  un- 
noticed. A  tribute,  however,  should  be  rendered  to 
his  memory  for  his  good  sense  in  retaining  Gabriel  to 
build  the  little  Trianon.  This  was  constructed  for 
one  of  his  courtesans,  though  he  gave  it  to  Marie  An- 
toinette as  a  private  dwelling  when  she  married  his 
grandson,  who  afterward  became  Louis  XVI.  The 
classic  and  simple  charm  of  this  little  palace,  with  the 
restricted  and  informal  social  practices  which  it  en- 
tailed, no  doubt  influenced  to  a  considerable  degree  the 
social  ideals  which  developed  during  the  reign  that  fol- 
lowed. 

Louis  XVI,  who  was  twenty  years  old,  amiable,  ir- 
resolute, of  "unblemished  character,"  and  wholly  un- 
interested in  any  form  of  social  We,  was  destined  to  pay 
the  penalty  after  eighteen  years  for  all  the  oppression, 
extravagance,  and  debauchery  of  the  two  previous  cen- 
turies. So  far  as  his  own  influence  on  social  life  was 
concerned  it  was  nil.  His  young  queen,  the  Austrian 
Marie  Antoinette,  made  her  full  contribution,  however, 
partly  because  there  were  no  mistresses  in  this  reign  to 
dictate  court  life  (and  the  court  must  have  a  leader), 
and  partly  because  she,  in  her  somewhat  dual  nature, 
was  personally  fitted  to  make  such  contribution.  Either 
through  shrewdness,  inclination,  or  a  yielding  to  the 
sweep  of  the  tide,  she  encouraged  the  new  attitude  to 
the  classic  revival.  This  greatly  increased  admiration 
for  Greek  ideas,  practices,  and  forms,  and  was  the 
means  of  inspiring  artists  to  create  with  these  qualities 
in  mind. 

207 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

In  the  second  place  she  was  above  all  things  else 
frivolous  and  pleasure  loving,  and,  it  seems  to  us,  some- 
what sentimental  and  affected,  particularly  in  the  first 
ten  years  of  the  reign.  These  characteristics  were  in- 
dicated in  the  natural  flowers,  the  love  birds,  bow-knots, 
hearts  and  arrows,  cupids,  cornucopias,  and  other  mo- 
tifs that  soon  found  their  way  into  the  decorations; 
many  of  them  also  were  used  in  the  textiles.  This  queer 
mixture  of  miniature  play-classicism  with  sentimental 
girlish  realism  or  naturalism  was  the  foundation  for  the 
art  of  the  period  of  Louis  XVI,  particularly  at  court,  or 
wherever  the  court  influence  was  at  all  pronounced. 

Because  of  the  court  opposition  to  du  Barry  and  her 
brood  of  charlatans  at  the  palace,  Marie  Antoinette 
had,  before  the  death  of  Louis  XV  in  1774,  begun  to  be 
considered  almost  the  sole  criterion  of  fashion  in  dress. 
After  her  accession  her  sway  became  absolute  so  far 
as  any  one  element  could  reach  the  disturbed  mental 
state  of  France.  An  instance  of  how  quickly  her  ideas 
were  taken  up  and  copied  is  found  in  the  following  an- 
necdote  taken  from  a  history  of  French  fashion:  "One 
day,  in  1775,  the  new  queen  took  up  from  her  dressing- 
table  two  peacock  feathers,  and  placed  them  with  sev- 
eral little  ostrich  plumes  in  her  hair.  Louis  XVI  came 
in  and  greatly  admired  his  wife,  saying  he  had  never 
seen  her  look  so  well.  Almost  immediately  feathers 
came  into  fashion,  not  in  France  only,  but  throughout 
Europe.  But  when,  shortly  afterward,  Marie  Antoin- 
ette sent  a  portrait  of  herself,  wearing  large  feathers  as 
a  head-dress,  to  her  mother,  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa 
returned  it.  'There  has  been,  no  doubt,  some  mistake,' 
wrote  Maria  Theresa;  'I  received  the  portrait  of  an  ac- 
208 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 
tress,  not  that  of  a  queen;  I  am  expecting  the  right 


one.' 


This  inordinate  tendency  to  make  the  head  ridiculous 
is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  of  all  the  queer  fashions  of 
this  brief  but  hectic  reign.  In  1778  the  queen  herself 
invented  what  was  known  as  the  "hedge-hog"  style  of 
hair  dressing.  This  huge  mass  of  frizzled  hair  tied 
on  with  ribbons,  and  its  successor  called  the  "half 
hedge-hog,"  lasted  for  several  years,  by  which  time  the 
invention  of  new  and  stranger  forms  became  a  mania 
with  the  queen  and  he/  devoted  followers.  Such  terms 
as  "Spaniel's  ears,"  "forest,"  "enamelled  meadows," 
"butterfly,"  "milk-sop,"  "commode,"  "cabriolet,"  and 
"mad-dog"  were  given  these  grotesque  inventions,  and 
flowers,  fruits,  wires,  ribbons  and  other  materials  were 
freely  used  in  building  the  structure  which  was  often 
left  for  days  without  rearrangement. 

This  is  apparently  an  instance  of  fashion's  vagaries 
where  it  is  more  satisfactory  to  accept  the  fact,  without 
requiring  the  imagination  to  picture  its  results. 

"The  scaffolding  of  gauze,  flowers,  and  feathers  was 
raised  to  such  a  height  that  no  carriages  could  be  found 
lofty  enough  for  ladies'  use.  The  occupants  were 
obliged  either  to  put  their  heads  out  of  the  windows,  or 
to  kneel  on  the  carriage  floor,  so  as  to  protect  the  fragile 
structures."  The  police  chief  of  Paris  wrote  the  man- 
ager of  a  theatre  that  there  were  constant  complaints  of 
huge  head-dresses,  hats  loaded  with  plumes,  flowers, 
fruits,  and  ribbons  built  so  high  that  they  obstructed  the 
view  of  those  in  the  pit.  We  do  not  find  it  recorded 
that  any  great  change  took  place  in  the  size  or  quality 
of  these  headpieces,  however. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Some  high  born  ladies  in  Paris  and  elsewhere,  with 
the  mothers  and  husbands  of  young  women  of  the  no- 
bility, objected  somewhat  to  these  extremes  in  feathers 
and  plumes,  and  tried  to  foster  simpler  fashions,  with 
small  success,  but  we  read  that  at  the  birth  of  one  of  the 
little  princes  the  queen  cut  her  hair  short,  after  which 
everybody  adopted  the  "baby  head-dress"  at  once, 
sacrificing  beautiful  hair  to  fashion's  dictates  without  a 
murmur.  When  Marie  Antoinette  conceived  the  idea 
of  playing  at  farming  or  living  the  simple  life,  the  great 
ladies  all  flew  to  imitate  her  so  that  they  might  appear 
with  their  hair  "a  la  laitiere,"  in  imitation  of  the 
queen. 

On  one  occasion,  in  1775,  the  queen  adopted  a  chest- 
nut brown  colour  for  her  gown.  This  colour  pleased 
the  king  and  it  is  written  that  every  lady  in  court  had 
on  a  dress  of  that  colour  the  following  day.  This  seems 
rather  quick  for  universal  adoption,  even  in  our  day 
of  swift  racing  to  ape  the  clothes  and  manners  of  some- 
one who  has  succeeded  in  hypnotizing  the  public  into 
a  belief  in  her  superiority  of  some  sort. 

Gowns  trimmed  with  one  material  only  were  much 
used;  straw-coloured  satin  was  very  popular.  These 
dresses  were  trimmed  in  various  ways,  either  with  lace, 
gauze,  or  fur.  There  were  numberless  varieties  of  trim- 
ming, besides  brocaded  or  pain  ted  satin,  and  each  had  a 
special  name.  The  most  fashionable  tint  for  satin  was 
either  "stifled  sigh"  or  "the  lively  shepherdess,"  the 
latter  being  apple-green  with  white  stripes. 

Some  of  the  names  given  to  trimmings  are  curious, 
such  as  "indiscreet  complaints,"  "great  reputation," 
"an  unfulfilled  wish,"  "the  feeling,"  "the  vapours," 
210 


/THE  PROMINENCE  GIVEN  TO  DRESSING  THE  HAIR  AND  ONE  OF  THE 
QUEER  BUT  FLEETING  FASHIONS  IN  WAISTS  IS  WELL  ILLUSTRATED 
IN  THIS  PORTRAIT  OF  A  DUCHESS.  THIS  FASHION  MARKS  THE 
CULMINATION  OF  THE  ARTIFICIAL  PERIOD. 


ABOUT    1775.       FRENCH.       THIS    COSTUME    IS    A    FRENCH    INTERPRE- 
TATION  IN   THE    STYLE  OF  LOUIS  XVI   OF  A  PIEDMONTESE  FASHION. 


MOREAU  GIVES  WONDERFULLY  HERE  NOT  ONLY  CHARMING  COS- 
TUMES OF  THIS  TIME,  BUT  THE  SPIRIT  AND  ENVIRONMENT  OF  THE 
MOST  FASCINATING  SOCIAL  PERIOD  IN  HISTORY. 


THE  PART  PLAYED  SOCIALLY  BY  THE  TOILET  OF  THE  KING  AND  HIS 
COURTIERS  IS  ADMIRABLY  REVEALED  IN  THE  ACCOMPANYING  IL- 
LUSTRATION. THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  SETTING  IS  ALSO  PERFECT. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

"preference,"  "agitation,"  "the  sweet  smile,"  "re- 
grets," and  many  others. 

Paniers  were  generally  small,  but  padded  at  the  top. 
Shoes  being  embroidered  in  diamonds,  women's  feet 
might  be  compared  to  jewel-cases.  Long  narrow  shoes, 
with  the  seam  at  the  heel  studded  wiih  emeralds,  were 
called  in  the  trade  "come  and  see." 

Women  wore  over  their  shoulders  an  arrangement  of 
lace,  gauze,  or  blond,  closely  gathered,  which  was  called 
"Archduchesse,"  or  "Medicis,"  or  "collet  monte." 
Tulle  was  in  great  demand,  and  was  manufactured 
everywhere. 

As  for  ribbons,  the  most  fashionable  were  called  "a 
sign  of  hope,"  "attention,"  "a  sunken  eye,"  "an  in- 
stant," "the  sigh  of  Venice,"  and  "a  conviction." 
Sashes  were  worn  "a  la  Praxitele"  after  an  opera  by 
Devismes. 

By  1780  the  rural  peasant  idea  was  adopted  by  all 
Versailles.  The  costumes  were  a  mixed  peasant,  dia- 
mond tiara,  and  ostrich  feather  combination  amusing 
and  ridiculous.  Fashion  in  fact  seemed  as  excited  and 
unstable  as  was  the  political  and  social  mind. 

From  1784  to  1786  (only  two  years)  the  fashion  in 
hats,  for  instance,  changed  seventeen  times.  Every 
new  play,  each  new  pastoral  idea  at  the  Trianon, 
brought  out  a  new  fashion  in  hair,  hats,  or  gowns,  and 
these  like  the  earlier  fashions,  took  on  the  names  of  the 
players,  the  playwrights,  the  heathen  gods  or  pastoral 
nymphs  who  happened  to  be  featured.  Hectic  fancies 
and  follies  multiplied  over  night,  and  as  a  contemporary 
moralist  observes:  "I  have  indeed  heard  of  women  going 
without  bread,  but  never  without  pins  and  feathers." 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Such  was  the  condition  and  arbitrary  sway  of  fashion  in 
1789  when  the  crash  of  the  Revolution  came  and  all  was 
changed. 

At  once  everything  became  serious,  even  ominous. 
Arcadia  with  its  little  laughing  fairy  peoples,  nymphs, 
and  shepherdesses,  its  affected  make-believes  from  classic 
lore,  its  brooks  and  trees  and  flowers  that  actually 
danced  and  played  in  harmony  with  the  frivolous  and 
hare-brained  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  court,  all  were 
silent.  A  great  hush  had  fallen  on  the  play  of  life  in 
France  while  the  pendulum  swung  to  the  other  extreme 
of  its  arc  once  more. 

Women  appeared  in  public  with  stern  faces,  clothed 
in  great  coats  and  black  hats,  carrying  a  cane  or  a  whip 
in  their  hands.  Their  hats  were  like  helmets.  The 
more  feminine  of  these  women  assumed  the  role  of  mid- 
dle-aged matrons,  wearing  long  trailing  gowns  of 
sombre  hue,  a  dark  cape,  and  a  little  cap.  The  cockade 
appeared  everywhere.  Gowns  were  simple,  with  the 
arms  generally  covered  by  tight  sleeves.  Caps,  small 
and  simple,  trimmed  with  bows  of  ribbon,  were  popular. 
Some  bonnets  of  straw  appeared  and,these  were  trimmed 
with  naval  or  war  trophies.  Everyone,  however,  car- 
ried a  fan  and  an  embroidered  handkerchief,  simple  and 
inoffensive  relics  of  the  past. 

Paint,  powder,  and  patches  went  with  the  gods  and 
goddesses;  feathers  and  artificial  fruits  with  the  Ar- 
cadian dreamers,  and  by  1795  scarcely  a  trace  of 
the  semi-classic,  semi-naturalistic,  miniature  style  of 
Louis  XVI  remained,  either  in  costumes  or  in  any  of  the 
decorative  and  social  arts. 

Each  step  of  the  Revolution  was  followed  by  its 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

own  peculiar  response  in  fashion  which  expressed  the 
ddminant  idea  of  the  particular  part  of  the  convulsion 
which  it  represented.  To  annihilate  not  only  the  old 
monarchic  ideas  and  practices,  but  every  vestige  of  its 
externalized  forms,  was  the  aim  of  this  period,  and  in 
no  other  one  is  a  clearer  psychological  response  of  ma- 
terials to  the  power  of  ideas  traceable,  than  in  that  of 
the  French  Revolution.  Fashion  responded  as  readily 
and  as  completely  to  human  desires  and  instincts  as 
they  expressed  themselves  in  this  period,  as  they  had 
in  any  other,  and  strange  and  wonderful  were  some  of 
the  things  she  did. 

With  the  passing  of  the  "Terror"  and  the  dawn  of 
the  "Directoire"  in  1795  a  reaction  to  the  styles  of 
Louis  XV  seemed  for  a  short  time  to  be  a  possibility, 
so  great  was  the  relief  when  the  intense  strain  of  the 
preceding  six  years  gave  way.  This  revival  of  the 
fashions  did  not  actually  occur,  however,  though  much 
of  the  charm,  artistic  quality,  and  simple  richness  did 
reappear,  and  the  Directoire,  one  of  the  most  fascin-  < 
ating  of  all  French  periods,  was  the  outcome.  This 
style  in  an  adapted  form  should  make  a  strong  appeal 
under  modern  conditions. 

It  is  interesting,  perhaps  enlightening  here,  to  see 
how  an  eminent  Englishman,  Henry  Swinburne,  Es- 
quire, who  was  in  Paris  much  of  the  time  between  1788 
and  1797,  looked  upon  the  excesses  of  the  court  in 
dress,  and  what  he  thought  of  conditions  brought  about 
by  the  Directoire  after  the  Revolution. 

He  says:  "The  extravagance  of  the  French  is  scarcely 
credible  and  nothing  in  Europe  ever  equalled  it,  at 
least  that  I  ever  heard  of.  The  trousseau  of  Mile,  de 

213 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Mantignon  who  is  going  to  marry  the  Baron  de  Mont- 
morency,  is  to  cost  a  hundred  thousand  crowns.  There 
are  to  be  a  hundred  dozen  of  shifts,  and  so  on  in  propor- 
tion. The  expenses  here  of  rigging  out  a  bride  is  equal 
to  a  handsome  fortune  in  England;  five  thousand 
pounds  worth  of  lace,  linen,  and  gowns  is  a  common 
thing." 

He  tells  of  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  queen,  among 
them  of  her  withdrawal  at  a  grand  ball  to  play  trictrac 
with  someone  in  another  part  of  the  palace,  of  how  she 
hated  orange-colour  and  would  receive  none  who  had 
that  colour  on  their  persons,  and  how  she  was  appar- 
ently more  interested  in  the  players  than  in  her  court 
ladies  or  gentlemen. 

Of  a  morning  concert  given  in  1797  by  one,  Monsieur 
Senovert,  he  says:  "The  company  assembled  at  two. 
The  men  were  clean,  many  in  English  dresses,  but  there 
were  also  a  good  many  extravagants  .  .  .  that  is, 
with  their  hair  plaited  and  done  up  very  tight  behind, 
like  an  old-fashioned  chignon,  and  in  front  two  curls 
or  tresses  a  foot  long,  just  parted  in  the  middle  of 
the  forehead  and  hanging  down  the  cheeks  upon  the 
waistcoat.  Two  of  them  I  remarked  as  being  particu- 
larly ridiculous;  one  side  only  was  in  curls  hanging 
down,  the  other  drawn  back  with  the  hair  behind. 

"The  women  were  all  in  wigs,  generally  as  different 
as  possible  from  the  true  colour  of  their  hair:  their 
faces  almost  totally  obscured.  Their  caps  and  hats 
had  much  gold  and  velvet,  and  very  small  feathers; 
their  waists  were  immoderately  short,  their  faces 
daubed,  their  necks  covered,  their  gowns  muslin,  with  a 
profusion  of  gold  spangles  and  gold  fringes."  Our  day 
214 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

is  evidently  not  the  first  period  in  which  paint,  feathers, 
gold  and  spangles  found  favour  in  the  morning  toilet, 
and  the  analogy  between  the  type  of  persons  addicted 
to  such  fashions  is  probably  even  closer  than  that  of  the 
practice. 

The  classic  Greek  mania  of  1796  brought  out  some 
costumes  which  were  from  one  point  of  view  grotesque 
—caricatures  they  seem  to  us — and  the  Anglo-mania  of 
1797  was  declared  by  a  contemporary  to  be  "  bourgeois 
to  a  frightful  degree  and  in  hideous  bad  taste."  We 
agree,  but  it  was  in  the  adaptations  of  the  classic  that 
the  height  of  the  ridiculous  was  reached,  yet  simplicity 
and  a  certain  amount  of  grace  was  attained  in  this 
way. 

This  classic  dress  is  described  as  a  simple  piece  of 
linen,  slightly  laced  before,  leaving  the  waist  loose  and 
serving  as  a  corset.  If  a  robe  was  worn  which  was  not 
left  open  in  front,  no  petticoat  was  worn.  When  dressed 
for  a  ball  those  who  danced  commonly  put  on  a  tunic, 
and  then  a  petticoat  became  a  necessity  but  not  a  choice. 
Pockets  were  not  used  as  they  encumbered  the  person. 
A  small  purse  concealed  in  the  bosom  held  money,  and 
also  a  gold  watch,  unless  it  was  hung  around  the  neck. 
A  fan  was  stuck  in  the  girdle.  Simple  silks,  linens,  and 
muslins  were  favourite  materials,  and  over  these  light 
coloured  or  white  gowns  brilliant  cashmere  shawls  were 
worn. 

Hair  was  cut  short  and  wigs  were  used.  Shoes  were 
copied  from  the  antique  and  gowns  were  as  transparent 
as  they  were  simple  in  cut.  With  the  revival  under  the 
Directoire  of  a  belief  in  taste,  a  respect  for  the  classic, 
and  a  disposition  to  create  anew,  a  good  foundation  was 

215 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

laid  for  the  development  of  the  Empire,  the  first  and 
most  important  of  all  the  nineteenth  century  styles. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  Italy  was 
the  scene  of  important  European  wars,  which  greatly 
affected  the  social  life  of  the  whole  peninsula.  The 
persistent  aggression  of  Louis  XIV  on  the  west,  the 
struggle  of  the  papacy  to  retain  international  political 
power,  the  determination  of  Spain  not  to  be  driven 
from  the  scene  of  her  established  triumphs,  and  the  ever 
increasing  demands  of  Austria  (which  threatened  to 
destroy  any  power  that  might  become  established), 
came  to  a  head  in  1714  when  France  and  Austria  made 
peace  at  Rastatt.  By  the  terms  of  this  peace  Venice, 
surrounded  by  Austrian  provinces,  could  never  again 
assert  her  real  independence  as  she  had  in  the  past. 
The  papacy  was  not  even  asked  to  take  part  in  the  con- 
ference of  peace  and  her  claims  were  therefore  ignored. 
Spain  was  allowed  nominal  rights  in  the  south,  but  she 
had  long  since  ceased  to  bully  by  aggressive  action, 
and  now  such  power  as  was  left  to  her  rapidly  declined. 
Such  cities  as  Florence,  Parma,  Piacenza,  Modena  arid 
others  were  under  Austrian  domination,  as  indeed  were 
Milan  and  Naples  in  reality.  Savoy,  whose  cause  had 
been  espoused  by  England,  alone  remained  virtually  her 
own  master. 

Austria,  not  Spain,  npw  held  the  balance  of  power, 
and  the  history  of  the  next  half  century  is  a  record  of  her 
attempt  to  retain  it,  while  France  and  Spain,  each  one 
alone,  and  acting  together  under  "family  compact," 
attempted  to  gain  the  ascendency. 

The  story  of  bargaining  away  princes  and  princesses, 
Bourbon,  Austrian-Hapsburg,  and  Spanish-Hapsburg, 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

with  native  Italian  petty  rulers  is  one  of  the  most  fas- 
cinating of  intrigues;  it  seems  also  to  explain  the  intro- 
duction into  Italian  states  of  the  customs  and  practices 
of  social  life  in  foreign  countries.  France,  however, 
with  a  better  organized  social  regime,  a  more  attractive 
and  amusing  manner  of  life  and  a  more  completely  ex- 
pressed form  of  art  and  culture,  made  not  only  a 
stronger  appeal  but  a  more  suitable  one  to  the  inde- 
structible art  and  pleasure  sense  of  the  Italian  descend- 
ants of  Ancient  Rome  and  of  the  Renaissance. 

The  Italians  regarded  the  Spanish  as  civilized,  well 
mannered  persons,  and  although  their  political  and  so- 
cial domination  was  felt  to  be  a  disgrace,  they  accepted 
the  social  forms  as  a  "graceful  tyranny"  well  acted. 
On  the  other  hand  the  Austrians  were  called  "tipsy, 
uncivilized  barbarians,"  and  their  manners  and  customs 
were  not  only  resisted,  but  hated  as  vigorously  as  were 
the  Austrians  themselves.  This  attitude  of  mind  had  a 
very  strong  bearing  on  the  almost  universal  acceptance 
socially  of  the  manners,  customs,  and  fashions  of  the 
French  court  throughout  the  whole  century,  and  offers 
a  brief  explanation  for  the  Italian  expression  in  furni- 
ture and  decorative  arts  of  the  periods  of  Louis  XV  and 
XVI,  which  are  just  now  becoming  a  matter  of  world 
wide  interest  and  quite  the  fashion  (particularly  in  the 
United  States  of  America  and  in  England),  among  con- 
noisseurs of  high  rank. 

The  second  half  of  the  century  was  more  peaceful. 
New  ideas  of  religion,  philosophy,  politics,  and  social 
life  that  developed  in  France  were  readily  filtered  into 
Italy  through  the  various  little  courts  connected  with 
the  ruling  Bourbon  house,  and  also  through  new  ave- 

217 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

nues  of  commercial  interest  opened  up  by  conditions 
of  peace  and  the  desire  of  France  for  rich  materials  and 
for  artists  to  work  out  the  necessary  expression  for  the 
French  social  setting.  Thus  it  was  that  Italian  imita- 
tion of  the  French  began  in  earnest,  and  thus  it  was 
that  the  indigenous  eighteenth  century  styles  of  France 
became  the  adopted  styles  of  Italy,  just  as  the  Renais- 
sance styles  indigenous  to  Italy  were  adopted  by  France 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  two  hundred  years  earlier. 

Earlier  in  the  century  the  theatre  became  the  chief 
centre  of  social  amusement.  Its  popularity  grew  until 
it  may  be  said  to  have  so  impressed  its  quota  of  make- 
believe  on  the  Italian  mind,  as  to  determine  its  point 
of  view;  consequently  the  appearance  of  things  became 
a  fact,  the  artificial  was  real,  and  sensation  took,  for 
them,  the  place  of  the  truth. 

Superficial  and  unintelligent  education  (a  relic  of 
Jesuit  domination),  theatrical  and  artificial  conventions, 
effusive  and  vacuous  frivolity,  luxurious  and  non-pro- 
ductive energy,  universally  marked  conditions  in  which 
the  second  half  of  the  century  was  to  develop.  In  this 
mental  atmosphere  was  to  be  set  the  social  life  and  cus- 
toms of  the  court  at  Versailles,  and  here  the  final  strug- 
gle of  ancient  noblesse  and  grandeur  against  effete 
mentality  and  the  perverted  senses  was  to  take  place. 

The  days,  too,  of  Baroque  art  and  its  strivings  after 
the  astonishing,  the  blatant,  the  exaggerated,  and  the 
pompous  were  past,  for  in  its  place  had  come  the  Rococo 
style  with  its  dainty,  unreal,  and  well-behaved  Arcadians 
and  its  little  elegant  and  affected  deities.  Vanity  took 
the  place  of  reason,  nude  figures  became  naked,  the 
toilet  was  the  favourite  motif  in  painting  and  as  one 
218 


THE  PIQUANTE  CHARM  OF  THE  RIDING  HABIT  AND  THE  ENVIRONMENT 
IN  WHICH  IT  IS  SHOWN  ARE  IN  PERFECT  KEEPING  WITH  THE  PER- 
SONAGES AND  WITH  THE  TECHNIQUE  OF  THIS  LOVELY  PAINTING. 


AS  THE  PERIOD  WANED,  IF  EXTRAVAGANCE  IN  MATERIALS  PER- 
SISTED, EXAGGERATION  IN  STYLE  AND  UNRESTRAINED  ORNAMENTA- 
TION WERE  OBVIOUSLY  GIVING  PLACE  TO  PRACTICAL  ELEGANCE 
AND  NATURAL  CHARM. 


MADAME  LE  BRUN  EXPRESSES  WELL  THE  FEELING  OF  THE  TRAN- 
SITION FROM  THE  EXAGGERATION  OF  THE  DECADE  FROM  1778 
TO  THE  DIRECTOIRE  IN  THIS  ADAPTABLE  COSTUME  OF  ADELAIDE 
DE  BOURBON,  AS- SHE  HAS  IN  THE  TWO  PRECEDING  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


IN  THE  LITTLE  PASTEL  PORTRAIT  OF  LOUIS  XVII  THE  HYPOCRITICAL 
POSE  OF  THE  MONARCHIC  IDEA  AND  THE  NEW  AND  CONSCIOUS 
DESIRE  TO  BE  FREE  AND  INDIVIDUAL  SEEM  TO  BE  DELIGHTFULLY 
COMBINED. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

critic  says:  "There  was  nothing  spiritual  in  art,  not  even 
the  Madonna  who  tried  to  be  like  the  Pompadour." 
In  other  words  the  refinements  of  the  "harem-art" 
of  the  French  court  were  becoming  supreme  in  Italy, 
particularly  in  Venice  and  the  northern  provinces. 
In  proportion  to  its  acceptance  all  ideas  of  the  real  or 
actual  in  art  expression  were  displaced,  and  with  it  went 
individuality  of  thought,  desire  and  initiative,  except 
such  as  contributed  to  one  end,  the  excessive  and  un- 
questioned imitation  of  whatever  was  accepted  as  the 
vogue  at  the  centre  of  dictation. 

The  author  believes  thoroughly  that  this  complete 
surrender  in  the  eighteenth  century  in  matters  of  the 
useful  and  social  arts  to  the  dictates  of  the  king's  mis- 
tresses (their  taste  in  some  cases  being  no  better  than 
their  reputations)  has  persisted  to  this  day,  not  only  in 
France,  but  in  England  and  in  the  United  States  as 
well.  This  is  in  no  small  degree  the  reason  for  the  help- 
less and  often  pitiful  acceptance  by  many,  of  any  sort 
of  thing  so  long  as  some  social  dictator  or  self -aggrand- 
ized connoisseur  has  arrested  the  development  of  in- 
dividual taste,  while  the  exaggerated  and  bedizened 
trappings  of  the  worst  of  all  of  the  French  social  arts 
have  been  so  long  and  so  eagerly  sought  after  that  the 
simpler  and  saner  things,  which  after  all  have  the  real 
charm,  have  been  almost  entirely  neglected. 

This  seems  to  be  the  result  of  an  effort  to  emulate  the 
Pompadour  and  du  Barry  on  the  part  of  all  those  who 
would  be  regarded  as  doing  the  correct  thing  in  social 
art.  One  does  ultimately  become  what  his  ideals  dic- 
tate, and  his  choice  is  naturally  in  accordance  with 
what  he  has  actually  become.  Admitting  with  critics 

219 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

of  this  period  its  evident  weaknesses,  its  frivolities,  its 
unrealities,  and  even  its  effeminacy,  it  was  still  an  era 
of  amusing  piquancy  where  much  of  the  objectionable 
is  lost  sight  of  on  account  of  the  artistic  qualities  and 
the  spontaneity  of  the  Italian  manner. 

Vernon  gives  such  a  splendid  summing  up  of  these 
characteristics  and  their  relation  to  the  house  and  cos- 
tumes that  we  venture  to  quote  verbatim:  "Contem- 
porary society  was  reflected  in  its  dwellings;  the  elabor- 
ate beds  are  suggestive  of  late  rising,  the  profusion  of 
mirrors  typifies  vanity  and  levity,  and  points  out  the 
undue  attention  to  toilet.  The  large  reception  rooms 
suggest  the  habitual  occupation  of  society,  their  decora- 
tions its  elaboration  and  conventionality.  But,  in 
spite  of  the  want  of  sincerity  and  of  force,  we  must  ad- 
mit that  there  is  no  little  charm  in  the  dainty  Dresden 
china  and  the  pretty  marble  statuettes,  the  gilded, 
splendid  clocks  and  candelabra,  the  lacquered  and 
painted  furniture,  the  intarsia  work  in  tortoise-shell 
and  metal.  With  them  we  find  the  frieze  of  stucco,  the 
frescoed  ceiling,  the  gilt-framed  mirrors.  All  these  call 
up  images  of  ladies  in  hoops,  weird  head-dresses,  powder 
patches,  and  high  heels,  waving  exquisite  fans,  and  of 
gentlemen  in  wigs,  embroidered  suits,  and  gilded  swords, 
who  bow  low,  hat  in  hand,  as  the  violins  begin  the  lan- 
guid music  of  the  Minuet." 

A  curious  morbid  convention  which  grew  up  in  Venice 
at  this  time  had  a  strong  influence  on  the  social  trend, 
and  no  doubt  tended  greatly  to  weaken,  if  not  to  under- 
mine, the  general  social  structure  and  through  this  the 
social  art  expression.  This  was  the  established  social 
custom  that  every  lady  should  select  some  man  to  be  a 
220 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

sort  of  cavaliere  servente,  who  should  be  in  constant 
attendance  upon  her  as  a  friend,  protector,  and  source  of 
intimate  companionship.  This  is  perhaps  a  curious 
situation  to  explain,  if  seen  only  from  the  viewpoint  of 
the  twentieth  century  with  its  habits  and  methods  of 
squaring  appearances  with  facts,  but  if  we  take  into 
consideration  Italian  spontaneity,  eighteenth  century 
theatrical  mannerisms  and  the  total  abandon  of  the 
period  to  idleness  and  amusement,  it  is  not  so  inex- 
plicable as  it  seems  at  first,  and  we  are  assured  by  the 
critics  of  morals  of  that  day  that  this  inseparable  com- 
panionship did  not  lead  to  greatly  increased  immoral- 
ity; that  it  was,  on  the  contrary,  frequently  a  barrier 
against  it,  since  the  cicisbeo  himself  (not  always  too 
attractive)  assumed  and  felt  a  responsibility  in  the 
protection  of  his  lady  from  any  unseemly  attentions. 

Sometimes  this  man  was  chosen  by  the  lady,  some- 
times by  her  husband,  and  not  infrequently  he  was  a 
part  of  the  marriage  contract.  His  position,  however, 
was  not  a  permanent  one,  and  we  must  admit  that  we 
find  a  tendency  to  variety  in  accord  with  human  fickle- 
ness. The  delegation  of  the  natural  rights  of  the  hus- 
band to  another  did  undoubtedly  hasten  the  crumbling 
of  the  social  order,  and  it  developed  besides  a  group  of 
idle  and  useless  men  who  finally  contributed  through 
their  non-productiveness  to  the  general  social  collapse. 

The  cicisbeo  was  first  of  all  perfect  in  his  own  toilet, 
and  this  being  complete,  his  next  duty  was  to  attend 
upon  the  toilet  of  his  lady.  After  this  he  went  with  her 
to  mass  and  then  to  the  promenade.  At  mass  he  gave 
her  holy  water  on  his  finger  tips,  and  he  carried  about  her 
fan  and  other  feminine  accessories.  He  dined  with  her 

221 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

and  accompanied  her  to  receptions,  where  he  danced 
with  her.  At  the  theatre  he  was  always  present,  and 
here  they  took  chocolate,  flirted  and  gossiped,  paying 
no  attention  at  all  to  the  music.  These  men  were  gen- 
erally the  older  sons  of  the  aristocracy;  the  younger 
ones  became  lawyers,  or  took  holy  orders  if  they  seemed 
unfit  for  law.  Such  was  the  social  training  of  the  young 
men  of  Venice  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Coffee  houses  were  very  numerous.  Here  male  so- 
ciety assembled  to  discuss  vapid  scandals,  the  latest 
operas,  and  to  while  away  full  time  until  such  an  hour 
as  their  presence  was  essential  to  some  other  form  of 
idle  and  amorous  pleasure. 

Austria  dominated  Milan  and  Florence  and  the 
aristocracy  were  satisfied  with  the  constant  amusement 
which  the  petty  courts  continuously  maintained  to 
keep  the  people  quiet.  France  contributed  the  same 
kind  of  party -life  through  its  Bourbon  court  at  Naples, 
a  medium  through  which  much  of  the  French  manner 
was  introduced  into  Italy. 

Paralleling  the  Rococo  development  in  Italy  (begin- 
ning about  the  middle  of  the  century)  was  started  what 
is  known  as  the  Classic  Revival.  The  discovery  of 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  in  1738,  the  paintings  in  the 
baths  of  Titus  at  Rome  and  the  finding  of  the  ruins  of 
Psestum  in  1752,  turned  art  into  an  entirely  different 
channel.  Winckelmann  and  his  followers  at  Rome 
sought  the  why  of  the  works  of  the  ancients  as  well  as 
their  aesthetic  feeling.  Mengs,  his  friend,  spread  the 
work  in  Italy  and  people  flocked  from  France  and  Eng- 
land to  study  and  absorb  the  "new  classic  idea."  This 
modelled  the  art  conception  of  both  countries  during 
222 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

the  last  decades  of  the  century,  and  the  reflex  through 
England  was  distinctly  felt  in  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  classic  revival  of  the  second  half  of  the 
century,  the  home  of  which  was  Rome  and  Naples,  be- 
came doubly  operative  in  Italy  as  it  was  passed  on  to 
France  and  then  back  again  to  Italy  through  French  in- 
fluence. * 

In  literature  the  Arcadian  style,  named  for  the  Acad- 
emy at  Rome,  which  was  founded  in  the  days  of 
Baroque  expression,  was  much  in  vogue.  This  gave 
the  characteristics  of  conventionality  and  artificiality 
both  to  verse  and  prose,  which  fitted  well  the  temper 
of  the  social  element.  Gentlemen  at  toilet  were  wont 
to  have  read  aloud  to  them  selections  from  a  rhymed 
cook  book.  Improvising  became  popular  socially  on 
such  subjects  as  physics,  chemistry,  agriculture,  and 
mathematics,  any  one  of  which  had,  of  course,  no  real 
interest  or  meaning  for  those  who  assumed  a  concern 
with  them.  A  great  number  of  plays  were  written, 
some  dull,  others  amusing.  We  recall  with  interest 
the  great  Metastasio  who  embodied  so  well  the  general 
feeling  of  the  period  in  his  work;  Goldoni  and  Alfieri, 
who  represented  present  conditions  combined  with  a 
prophecy  of  what  was  to  come.  Goldoni  more  than 
any  other  seemed  to  see  life  in  its  aristocratic  as  well  as 
its  middle  class  aspect,  and  to  fear  nothing  in  revealing 
character  as  it  was.  He  scathingly  showed  up  the 
aristocracy,  clearly  exposing  the  vices  and  frailties  of  so- 
ciety as  well  as  accusing  it  of  being  bourgeois,  some- 
times a  desirable  quality.  Gozzi  was  his  antithesis, 
violently  opposing  the  vulgarity  of  dealing  with  or- 
dinary incidents  in  the  lives  of  common  people,  thus 

223 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

degrading  literature  as  an  art.  He  evidently  consid- 
ered that  all  rights  to  strange  practices  and  vain  follies 
should  be  reserved  for  the  aristocracy  to  which  he  be- 
longed, and  he  preferred  to  invest  all  this  with  the 
charming  illusion  of  a  fairy  tale.  The  feud  between 
these  two  representatives  of  the  Italian  theatre  finally 
drove  Goldoni  to  Paris,  where  his  plays  were  very  well 
received  and  where  he  was  generously  rewarded. 

We  cannot  imagine  the  last  half  of  the  century  in 
Italy  as  being  complete  without  the  charming  Rococo 
frescoes  of  Tiepolo  with  their  throngs  of  allegorical 
figures,  their  too  much  foreshortened  accessories  and 
their  lovely  colour;  nor  without  the  fascinating  records 
of  Venetian  everyday  life  of  Longhi,  the  formal  work 
of  Canaletto,  and  the  softer  and  more  sympathetic 
canvases  of  Angelica  Kauffman.  In  every  field  of  en- 
deavour, the  Rococo  with  its  unrestraint  and  pretty 
frivolous  diversions  is  seen  acting  and  reacting,  with  the 
classic  spirit  reserved  and  measured,  sometimes  stiff 
and  formal,  and  yet  powerless  to  dominate  a  life  al- 
ready committed  to  sensuous  exaggerations. 

As  in  other  periods  and  in  other  lands,  so  it  was  in 
Italy  in  the  eighteenth  century  in  regard  to  costume, 
though  perhaps  there  was  more  individual  initiative, 
certainly  more  than  in  France.  Here  at  least  freedom 
for  individual  self  indulgence  was  unchanged  by  the 
verses  of  the  satirists,  the  theories  of  the  classicists,  or 
the  philosophy  of  culture,  and  that  the  most  was  made 
of  this  situation  by  the  inhabitants  of  Venice  we  have 
ample  assurance. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  we  are  told  that  the 
"insatiable  desire  for  richness  and  show  in  dress  in- 
224 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

jured  the  elegance  of  costumes."  Gowns  became  stiff 
and  ample,  the  material  ever  growing  richer  and  richer. 
Ladies  appeared  in  dresses  flounced  and  ruffled  in  lace 
and  heavy  silk,  until  the  lines  of  the  body  were  entirely 
lost.  Hoops,  corsets,  long  pointed  bodices,  paniers, 
bustles,  and  crinolines  are  constantly  mentioned.  Flam- 
boyant colours,  "audacious  cuts,"  and  "foreign  paints" 
are  charged  to  the  toilet  of  all  great  ladies,  but  with 
all  this,  a  certain  charm  characterized  the  dress  of  the 
ladies  of  Venice  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  century,  for 
the  materialism  of  the  seventeenth  century  had  al- 
ways been  tempered  with  artistic  sense,  and  an  appar- 
ent triumphal  joyousness  in  every  new  and  spectacular 
effect.  This  quality  raised  all  their  efforts  above  the 
ordinary.  There  are  so  many  and  such  extravagant 
and  lengthy  accounts  of  the  costumes  of  the  Venetian 
ladies,  and  such  varieties  in  fashion  and  material 
that  we  may  perhaps,  because  of  limited  space,  get  a 
better  idea  of  all  this  if  we  quote  exactly  one  inventory 
of  the  trousseau  belonging  to  a  certain  Venetian  lady  in 
1744  instead  of  selecting  elements  from  a  variety  of 
places.  This  account  may  be  taken  as  fairly  represen- 
tative of  general  conditions: 

"A  complete  dress  of  brocade,  with  cloth  of  gold 
petticoat,  embroidered  in  silver  thread,  with  brilliants 
and  flowers  embroidered  and  enamelled.  Another 
complete  dress  of  embroidered  cloth,  a  light  brown 
colour,  trimmed  deep  with  silver  lace  flounces,  with 
enamels  of  many  colours  and  silver  filigree  flowers. 
Robe  and  train  of  white,  embroidered  in  gold,  silver,  and 
flowers.  Robe  and  train  of  French  gray,  embroidered  in 
gold,  silver,  and  flowers.  Robe  and  train  of  rose- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

coloured  velvet  and  false  petticoat,  with  deep  flounces 
of  gold  lace  and  enamelled  flowers.  Robe  and  train  of 
silver  satin,  quilted  and  embroidered  in  gold  and  flow- 
ers, petticoat  to  match  the  robe.  Robe  and  train  of 
white  cloth  flowered  in  enamel,  gold,  silver,  and  bril- 
liants. Robe  and  train  of  pale  green  flowered  in  silver. 
Robe  and  train,  quite  plain,  with  rose-coloured  petti- 
coat shaded  and  flowered.  Robe  and  train  without 
silver,  embroidered  in  a  peculiar  pattern  and  flowered. 
Robe  and  train  of  muslin  of  many  colours.  Robe  and 
mantle,  rose-coloured,  and  sham  petticoat  flounced  in 
silver  lace.  Pale  blue  robe  with  tassels  and  little  silver. 
Robe  of  black  velvet.  Robe  of  black  watered  silk. 
Robe  woven  in  stripes  and  patterns.  Robe  of  Holland 
Possue,  trimmed  with  Spanish  point.  A  patrician's 
robe  of  black,  embroidered  and  trimmed  with  lace. 
A  patrician's  robe  with  lace  flounces.  A  black  Bella- 
cossa  with  tassels.  Mantle  and  petticoat  of  black  vel- 
vet. Another  woven  in  stripes.  A  black  patrician's 
mantle  and  petticoat,  with  embroidery  and  lace.  A 
lemon-coloured  Milordino  with  little  silver  trimming, 
and  cloth-of-silver  incisions,  and  petticoat  to  match. 
A  sacque  or  Milordino,  rose-coloured  and  embroidered, 
with  petticoat  to  match,  richly  embroidered  in  silver. 
A  dressing-gown  with  train,  of  plain  dark  stuff  embroid- 
ered with  flowers.  A  blue  camelot  riding-habit  em- 
broidered in  gold  and  silver,  with  bodice  of  cloth  of 
silver  glace  trimmed  with  gold.  A  wrapper  of  black 
velvet  lined  with  Canadian  marten.  A  wrapper  of  pale 
blue  velvet  lined  with  ermine  and  vair.  A  wrapper  of 
gold-green  cloth  and  silver  bosses,  lined  with  Canadian 
marten,  with  separate  sleeves  that  will  allow  it  to  be 
226 


AN  ALMOST  ENCHANTING  HARMONY  EXISTS  HERE  BETWEEN  THE 
BEST  TRADITIONS  OF  LATE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  SOCIAL  FRANCE, 
ITS  PEOPLE,  THEIR  COSTUMES,  AND  THE  ROOMS  IN  WHICH  THEIR 
LIVES  WERE  PASSED. 


UNDOUBTEDLY  THE  ARCADIAN  POINT  OF  VIEW  HAD  MUCH  TO  DO 
WITH  THE  SIMPLE  GRACE  AND  THE  CULTURED  ^STHETICISM  OF 
THESE  FASHIONS. 


THE  FASCINATING  OPTIMISM  AND  GAY  ABANDON  OF  THIS  YOUNG 
WOMAN  ARE  ADMIRABLY  REPEATED  IN  EVERY  ARTICLE  OF  DRESS 
THAT  SHE  HAS  CHOSEN.  IT  IS  A  REAL  LESSON  IN  PERSONALITY 
EXPRESSION. 


ROYAL     DICTATION     IS     SUPPLANTED     BY     INDIVIDUAL   EXPRESSION 
AND    SUPERFICIAL   EXTRAVAGANCE   BY   AFFECTED    SIMPLICITY. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

turned  into  a  robe.  Cloak  and  domino  of  gray  embroid- 
ered in  silver.  Petticoats  of  white  camelot  embroidered 
in  gold  and  silver  with  bodice  to  match,  of  green  richly 
embroidered  in  gold.  Another  bodice  of  beaver  em- 
broidered with  gold  and  flowers.  Another  of  limousine 
camelot  with  silver  braid,  rose-coloured  with  deep  silver 
lace  trimming.  Another  blue  with  silver  embroidery. 
Plain  white  stays.  Several  corsets,  white  embroidered 
in  gold,  with  herring-bone  sewing;  rose-coloured  with 
silver  stitching  and  silver  lace  trimming.  Beaver 
drawers,  trimmed  in  gold,  with  burnished  clasps;  rose- 
coIouTeTl'  cloth  embroidered  with  silver;  pale  blue 
damask  embroidered  in  silver;  black  velvet  embroid- 
ered with  gold;  of  rose-coloured  cloth  trimmed  with  sil- 
ver; of  patrician  black.  Five  hooped  skirts,  rose,  white, 
pale  blue,  and  roedeer  skin,  five  in  all.  A  lace  bauta. 
An  embroidered  lawn  bauta.  Two  English  hats. 
Cloaks  of  camelot  embroidered  in  gold;  with  silver  lace. 
A  patrician's  cloak  embroidered.  Little  cloaks  of  black 
velvet  with  Spanish  point  trimmings;  of  crape  with  black 
lace  trimming.  Paris  cloaks  with  silver  embroidery; 
with  flower  embroidery;  a  gray  travelling-cloak  em- 
broidered and  lined  with  rose-coloured  plush  and  silver 
incisions :  of  rose-coloured  velvet  trimmed  with  Russian 
ermine,  and  lined  with  vair,  with  silver  incisions.  A 
boa  with  its  round  clasp  in  gold  and  silver.  Another 
with  clasp  of  silver  and  enamelled  flowers.  Another 
in  cloth  of  silver  with  little  gold  embroidery  and  flow- 
ered. Others  of  light  cloth  of  silver,  of  silver  lace,  em- 
broidered in  blue  flowers.  Colliers  wrought  in  gold 
and  silver  with  silk  tassels  of  various  colours.  Two 
white  lace  handkerchiefs  from  Sessa  and  two  from  Vi- 

227 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

enna,  one  of  white  lawn  with  gold  embroidery  and 
flowers,  the  other  with  plain  flowers.  A  large  muff  em- 
broidered in  gold  and  silver.  Another  of  rose-coloured 
velvet  with  silver  cords."  Then  follows  a  list  of 
chemises,  ruffles,  caps,  coifs,  neck  cloths  with  precious 
lace,  silk  stockings,  embroidered  slippers,  shoes  of  vel- 
vet and  fur,  fans  studded  with  brilliants  and  diamonds, 
satin  cloaks  with  gold  and  silver  embroidery,  sables, 
black  fox,  ermine,  wolf,  and  beaver. 

By  the  middle  of  the  century  French  fashions  were 
brought  into  Venice  every  Ascensiontide.  At  this  time 
the  milliners  dressed  up  huge  dolls  in  all  the  latest  modes 
and  finery  and  exposed  them  in  public  places.  This 
custom  of  a  fashion  show  prevailed  until  the  Revolution 
in  France,  when  classic  garments  became  the  vogue  and 
Venice  responded  quickly  to  the  French  temper.  A 
contemporary  writer  tells  us  that  in  Venice  the  ex- 
travagance of  the  dresses  was  matched  by  the  absurdi- 
ties of  the  hats  which  were,  according  to  one,  Businello, 
"cultivated  like  a  garden,"  and  we  find  Gozzi  ridiculing 
hats  that  looked  "like  baskets  of  cabbages."  It  seems 
as  if  we  had  found  here  the  immediate  forerunners  of 
some  of  the  present  styles  in  which  vegetables,  fruits, 
flowers,  and  feathers  make  common  cause  on  one  head. 
It  is  likely,  too,  that  the  same  state  of  mind  inspired  them 
then  as  now. 

Alas  the  court  of  Marie  Antoinette  could  do  no  worse 
with  the  hair  than  could  the  hair-dresser  of  Venice. 
Even  at  the  risk  of  repeating  too  many  of  Molmenti's 
not  too  delicate  comments  we  must  state  what  he  says 
in  regard  to  the  hairdresser  and  his  products:  "The 
hairdresser  combed  out,  curled,  and  waved  the  locks, 
228 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

added  false  hair,  gathered  it  all  up  into  the  fantastic 
towers  of  the  tupe  (conzieri  or  cimieri  in  Venetian),  and 
then  powdered  the  whole;  the  use  of  powder  in  the 
seventeenth  century  had  become  an  essential  in  both 
male  and  female  hairdressing.  Ladies  of  fashion  wore 
huge  mob  caps,  feathers,  lace,  cupidons,  butterflies, 
stuffed  birds,  ears  of  corn,  flowers,  fruit,  on  their  heads. 
A  writer  of  the  Seicento  remarks  that '  the  face  compared 
with  its  elaborate  setting  of  hair  seemed  like  the  earth  in 
comparison  with  the  circumambient  sky,'  another  writer 
of  the  same  epoch  declares  that  it  would  have  required  a 
whole  volume  to  describe  a  head-dress  with  its  jewels 
and  its  flowers;  and  no  wonder,  for  it  had  emptied  the 
purse  of  the  unfortunate  husband  to  build  it  up." 

We  find  as  many  different  shapes  here  as  at  Versailles, 
and  that  this  invention  was  further  ornamented  with 
portraits  of  the  wearer's  father,  lovers,  canaries,  and 
pet  dogs.  We  note  with  amusement  that  no  mention 
is  made  of  the  husband  except  as  he  became  responsible 
for  the  expense,  which  seems  to  have  been  enormous 
and,  so  far  as  is  recorded,  was  borne  with  becoming 
silence.  It  seems  very  peculiar  that  the  Venetians  in 
the  presence  of  so  much  water  failed  to  use  any  for 
washing  purposes.  Ladies  sponged  their  faces  but 
immediately  covered  them  with  rouge  and  paint  and  it 
is  related  "they  soaked  their  clothes,  from  their  chemi- 
ses to  their  gloves,  in  perfume  that  scented  the  air  three 
miles  off."  These  perfumes  were  supposed  to  possess 
medicinal  properties.  Balsam  and  musk  diluted  in 
water  were  considered  an  effective  remedy  for  heart 
disease  and  dropsy.  They  used  pills  made  of  soap  to 
cure  headache  and  stomach-ache.  Toward  the  end  of 

229 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

the  century  patches  on  the  face  were  so  universal 
that  they  were  used  as  symbols  in  expressing  ideas. 
A  patch  on  the  nose  was  called  sfrontta,  one  at  the  cor- 
ner of  the  eye  passionate,  on  the  lip  gallante,  near  the  eye 
irresistibile,  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead  maestosa,  and 
at  the  corner  of  the  mouth  assassina. 

Underclothing  is  described  as  rich  and  elegant  but  not 
especially  clean.  Finest  linen  bordered  with  silver  lace 
and  other  rich  materials  was  generally  used.  Handker- 
chiefs were  richly  ornamented  and  were  rare.  Women 
adopted  the  use  of  coloured  ones  as  soon  as  the  taking 
of  snuff  became  an  established  custom.  Curious  com- 
ments these  on  the  state  of  mind  even  in  those  days  of 
decadence. 

Jewels  abounded.  The  head,  neck,  arms,  and  fingers 
were  covered  sometimes  with  real  gems,  but  as  Goldoni 
assures  us,  more  often  with  imitation  ones,  particularly 
just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution  when 
things  were  most  exaggerated  and  most  unreal.  Num- 
berless chains,  eyeglasses,  snuff  boxes,  clocks,  and  other 
things  were  worn  or  carried  by  both  men  and  women, 
and  fans  were  the  most  elaborate,  varied,  and  universal 
of  all  toilet  accessories.  Goldoni 's  assurance  should 
give  comfort  to  such  of  our  friends  as  were  too  greatly 
shocked  upon  the  death  of  a  lady  who  was  a  recognized 
social  leader  a  few  years ,  since,  when  her  pearls  were 
found  to  be  but  imitations  of  the  real  thing. 

The  women  of  the  middle  classes  were  not  willing  to 
be  outdone  by  their  more  fortunate  sisters,  so  they 
copied  their  clothes  and  insisted  that  they  must  be 
present  at  certain  places  of  amusement,  and  be  recog- 
nized as  fit  to  be  there. 

230 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

The  women  of  the  people  although  they  are  said  to 
have  adopted  strange  fashions,  were  less  desirous  of 
imitating  the  patrician  class  and  therefore  proved  more 
interesting  and  picturesque.  They  wore  gowns  of 
flaming  colours;  scarlet  bodies,  highly  embroidered 
aprons,  gold  chains  on  their  necks,  many  coloured 
ribbons  in  their  hair  and  white  shoes. 

The  costumes  of  the  men  were  not  less  varied  nor  less 
extravagant    than    those    of    the    women.     After    ex-  /' 
patiating  on  the  gorgeous  "plumage-like  clothes"  of  / 
men  and  the  effeminacy  to  which  all  men  were  com-/ 
mitted,  a  contemporary  writer  said  that  clothes  then 
were  made  of  silks  and  velvets  covered  in  embroidery, 
that  white  silk  stockings  were  also  embroidered,  and 
hats  with  plumes  and  precious  stones  were  getting  to  be 
universal!     He  mentions  shoes  with  gold  and  silver 
buckles  set  in  precious  stones,  ruffles  of  lace  at  the 
breast  and  wrists,  and  faces  powdered,  painted,  and 
patched  so  that  they  were  "worse  got  up"  than  the 
women  whom  they  attended. 

We  quote  here  a  translation  of  what  seems  to  be 
half  satirical  counsel  given  to  the  young  bloods  of 
Venice  who  were  going  to  the  fair  of  San  Antonio  at 
Padua  in  1751.  This  will  at  least  indicate  many  of  the 
points  essential  to  the  practices  of  the  time  in  so  far  at 
least  as  the  patricians  are  concerned. 

"Rules  necessary  to  a  Noble  and  polished  Youth  for 
making  a  brilliant  appearance  at  the  coming  Fete  of 
the  patron  Saint  of  Padua,  1751 — in  thirty  chapters: 

1.  Embroidered  coat  to  the  value  of  about  200  Sequins. 

2.  Two  other  Coats  in  good  taste,  and  fashionable  to 
wear  during  the  day.     3.  Breeches  to  match  the  coats 

231 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

or  with  a  fastening  of  three  gold  Buckles.  4.  Superfine 
Shirts  with  English  point,  and  superfine  Flanders 
laces,  and  should  be  changed  every  day.  5.  Silk 
stockings  with  two  Tassels  from  Paris,  with  a  lead 
seal  at  two  Sequins  a  pair.  6.  Belt  pendents  of  gold 
embroidered  silk  with  five  gold  Clasps.  7.  Steel 
Sword  mounted  in  gold,  with  white  ribbon  worked  in 
gold,  and  tassels.  8.  Black  shoes  with  leather  soles 
and  gold  Buckles.  9.  Peruke  of  M.  su  Taquel  with  a 
toupee  a  verze  and  its  little  ornamented  bag.  10.  Col- 
lars held  by  gold  Clasps,  changed  twice  a  day.  11.  A 
plain  English  Hat  weighing  three  ounces.  12.  Two 
White  Handkerchiefs,  one  for  paring  Fruit,  the  otheiTEo 
serve  the  Lady  when  she  takes  a  Sherbet,  Coffee  or 
Chocolate:  two  others  for  the  Nose,  of  tree  bark,  and 
all  sprinkled  with  spirits  of  Lavender.  13.  Silkjsponges 
for  wiping  off  the  perspiration.  14.  Two  pairs  of  white 
Gloves  from  Rome,  one  pair  in  the  hand  the  other  in  the 
pocket  with  two  pairs  of  Ladies'  gloves  of  different 
sizes,  for  any  contingency  that  might  occur,  making 
sure  that  they  have  no  odour.  15.  Snuff  boxes,  one  of 
gold  for  Spanish  Tobacco,  the  other  of  red  papier  mache 
of  M.  su  Marsian  for  Tobacco  of  the  Country.  16.  A 
case  with  its  fittings  and  instruments  all  of  gold. 
17.  A  small  gold  Case  with  his  spoon  and  Hanover 
powder.  18.  A  Stand  mounted  in  gold  with  perfumed 
spirits  of  the  latest  mode.  19.  Another  Stand  divided 
in  two  by  Neapolitan  Devils  and  Imps.  20.  A  mirror, 
Memorandum  book,  Brushes,  Pins,  of  various  sorts, 
Strings,  Adzes,  Silk  of  various  colours  in  two  little 
boxes.  21.  Opera  glass  with  its  Tortoise-shell  and  gold 
case.  22.  Repeating  Clock,  on  one  side  an  enamel  face 
232 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

with  French  time,  and  on  the  other  one  of  gold  with 
Italian  time.  23.  Two  packages  of  French  and  Italian 
Paper.  24.  Fans  with  white  Ribbon  which  one  places 
between  the  inner  folds  of  the  Velada  for  protecting  the 
Lady  from  the  sun, 'offering  her  the  arm  after  the  usage 
of  Sinigalia.  25.  Two  rings,  one  a  Ruby  and  the  other 
a  Brilliant,  two  little  souvenirs,  one  with  small  brilli- 
ants, and  the  other  may  be  real  pinchbeck,  which  may 
serve  as  a  remembrance  and  as  a  specific.  26.  A 
Purse  of  silk  net  with  gold  Coins  and  in  it  some  large 
pieces  of  money  in  quite  new  silver,  to  pay  for  anything 
the  Lady  happens  to  need  if  by  chance  she  should  lose  at 
play,  and  a  hundred  Sequins  more  in  specie  of  the 
reigning  Doge.  27.  He  should  always  have  in  his 
pocket  candied  Fruits  in  a  gilded  box,  pieces  of  Choco- 
late, Pistachio,  Chestnuts,  Pickles,  Imps  and  other 
trifles  pertaining  to  gallantry.  28.  A  groom  and  a 
knavish  Lackey,  who  will  be  skillful  on  occasions  which 
might  arise  for  fleeing  the  City  to  go  to  a  Villa.  29. 
Gilded  Cabriolet  with  two  fine  Horses.  30.  A  box 
with  Assafceteda  in  reality,  which  will  serve  for  the 
Lady  if  she  suffers  a  hysterical  Attack;  this  comes  for 
the  most  part  compounded  with  good  scents.  When 
the  K.  r  is  fitted  out  in  this  manner  he  can,  without  any 
doubt,  according  to  the  expressed  opinion  of  the  most 
judicious,  the  authorized  protectors  of  the  grand  mode, 
make  his  appearance  in  good  society  with  a  Lady,  and 
may  always  hope  to  draw  the  applause  of  the  Lady,  it 
remaining  only  to  point  out  to  him  that  he  should  often 
interrupt  his  graceful  conversation  with  some  French 
Song;  this  he  can  learn  in  the  famous  book  entitled: 
'L'Amor  de  Palajo  RoieV 

233 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Of  course  the  government,  alarmed  lest  a  universal 
bankruptcy  should  come  upon  the  land,  legislated  ever 
and  anon,  and  in  1781  made  a  most  vigorous  attempt 
to  check  the  mad  extravagance  in  clothes,  but  always 
with  one  result — namely,  a  more  vigorous  and  deter- 
mined effort  on  the  part  of  all  classes  to  "invent  anew 
and  spend  the  more." 

Corresponding  with  the  salon  in  France  was  the 
conversazione  of  Italy.  This  was  woman's  kingdom. 
Goldoni  says:  "It  is  enough  to  make  you  die  of  laughing 
to  go  to  a  conversazione.  There  are  the  ladies  with 
their  cavalieri  serventi;  they  sit  there  stiff  as  statues, 
waiting  to  be  adored;  her  lover  sighs  over  the  shoulder  of 
one,  or  kneels  at  her  feet;  another  hands  the  tea,  or 
picks  up  a  handkerchief,  or  kisses  a  hand,  or  offers  his 
arm,  or  plays  the  secretary,  the  footman,  the  hair- 
dresser, the  perfumer,  or  fondles  or  follows  about  like  a 
dog." 

The  great  halls  of  the  palaces  were  frequently  opened 
also  for  balls  and  concerts,  where  the  greatest  antics 
were  performed.  Often  the  conversazione  began  after 
these  fetes,  sometimes  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
lasted  till  well  after  the  light  of  day  had  broken.  Amid 
the  clatter  of"  conversation,  the  flutter  of  fans,  the  rustle 
of  silks  and  the  flirtations  of  the  patricians  and  their 
cicisbei,  there  filtered  into  Italy  political  seditions, 
religious  agnosticism  and  the  social  unrest  which  was 
gradually  undermining  the  old  order  in  France  and 
which  at  last  culminated  in  the  Revolution  in  1789. 
^  The  philosophy  of  Voltaire  and  Rousseau,  the  theo- 
ries of  paganism  in  regard  to  the  marriage  contract, 
individual  rights  of  man  and  the  meaning  of  nature 
234 


•'• 


THE  REVOLUTION  WIPED  OUT  THE  GRACE,  DESTROYED  THE  CHARM, 
AND  ARRESTED,  AT  LEAST  FOR  A  TIME,  THE  ACTIVITY  OF  THE  AES- 
THETIC CREATIVE  POWER. 


IN  THE  D1KECTOIRE  FASHIONS  THERE  ARE  ALMOST  UNLIMITED 
IDEAS  FOR  MODERN  USE;  RATHER  SIMPLE,  QUITE  PRACTICAL,  SOME- 
TIMES CHIC  AND  EVEN,  IN  MANY  INSTANCES,  jESTHETiqALLY  CON- 
CEIVED. 


IT  WAS  NOT  GIVEN  TO  THE  LADIES  ALONE  TO  EXPLOIT  THE  NEW 
AND  LESS  AUTOCRATIC  PHASE  IN  FASHION  OF  DRESS  AS  IT  WAS 
EXPRESSED  BY  THE  EMPIRE. 


LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  VENETIAN.  IF 
ALL  ELSE  IN  VENICE  WAS  ARTIFICIAL,  THIS  FAMILY  GROUP  WAS  SIM- 
PLE, NATURAL,  AND  PICTURESQUE  IN  ITS  PERSONALITIES  AND  ITS 
COSTUMES. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

were  flippantly  discussed  over  the  coffee  cup  and  amidst 
the  surroundings  which  were  the  natural  setting  of  the 
~  conversazione — the  opera  and  the  coffee  house.  Gradu- 
ally but  surely  society  was  imbibing  the  ideas  that 
were  destined  after  they  had  sufficiently  penetrated 
general  consciousness,  to  revolutionize  thought  and  then 
life. 

The  development  of  the  particular  style  called  Louis 
Seize  in  France  was  practically  dictated  from  Ver- 
sailles. Paris  rebelled  at  the  autocratic  mandates  but 
copied  them  in  self  defense.  The  outlying  provinces 
took  their  ideals  from  the  same  source,  for  Versailles  was 
still  France,  at  least  in  theory. 

In  Italy  it  was  different.  Italy  was  not  a  unit. 
Venice  was  a  world  alone,  Rome  a  law  unto  herself; 
Florence  austere  and  dull  under  the  grand  Duke  Peter 
Leopold  thought  in  terms  totally  unlike  sophisticated 
Milan  or  impulsive  Naples.  Each  and  every  quarter  of 
Italy  was  individual  and  the  art  of  Louis  Seize  was  an 
adopted  fashion  taken  on  after  it  was  formulated,  and 
re-expressed  by  individual  states  as  differently  as  it 
would  be  by  totally  different  nations,  or  by  two  very 
unlike  individuals  of  the  same  nation.  This  is  its 
charm. 

^Lombardy  was  one  of  the  progressive  states   and 
Milan  a  culture  centre.     Here  as  in  Venice  the  middle 

and  lower  classes  were  as  imbued  with  culture  and  art 

{/ 

as  were  the  nobles.  An  English  woman  who  wrote 
from  Milan  in  1771  said:  "We  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
how  extremely  opulent  the  citizens  and  their  families 
appear  even  down  to  the  lowest  mechanics,  though  I 
cannot  say  I  liked  to  see  blacksmiths  and  shoemakers 

235 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

with  gold  and  silver  stuffs  in  waistcoats,  long  swords 
and  embroidered  knots;  tailors  in  brocade  and  fine 
laced  ruffles,  etc.  This  is  carrying  opulence  into  luxury. 
At  the  same  time,  waving  their  ridiculous  excesses,  I 
was  rejoiced  to  see  everybody  appear  rich  and  happy. 
The  noblesse  and  great  ladies  dress  in  a  more  noble 
style  than  in  Paris  and  have  a  very  genteel  air  and 
manner:  their  clothes  are  of  the  richest  materials: 
and  better  made  than  any  I  have  yet  seen  in 
Italy." 

This  is  enlightening  when  compared  with  the  ex- 
cesses of  Venice,  and  with  the  individual  peculiarities 
of  the  other  states.  Rome  was  autocratic  and  the 
luxury  and  extravagance  of  the  families  of  the  popes 
and  of  the  great  cardinals  is  a  matter  of  historic  record 
as  is  the  poverty  and  degradation  of  the  masses  there 
during  this  period. 

Contrasting  Venice,  however,  with  other  states,  in  his 
"History  of  Italian  Furniture"  Odom  beautifully  and 
comprehensively  says  of  Venice:  "Under  no  foreign 
restraint  she  gaily  f£ted  herself  to  disaster  with  wealth 
amassed  by  her  patricians  in  the  days  of  their  commercial 
supremacy.  .  .  .  Still  insatiable  in  the  desire  for 
new  fashions  Venice  frivolously  and  charmingly 
patterned  her  painted  furniture  and  the  decorations  of 
her  interiors  after  the  Louis  Seize  style  in  France, 
modifying  them  by  her  own  desire  for  sensuous  colour, 
while  blending  antique  ideas  with  classically  tempered 
motifs  retained  from  her  graceful  Rococo  style." 

Her  own  peculiar  abandon  to  sensation  and  novelty 
was  even  more  clearly  seen  in  her  surrender  to  them  in 
matters  of  costume,  the  art  which,  after  all,  more  than 
236 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 

any  other,  is  the  expression  of  an  unquenchable  passion 
for  a  new  sensation,  an  untried  adventure  and  a  more 
personal  display  for  purposes  of  attraction,  which 
really  was  the  means  through  which  their  choicest  aims 
in  social  life  were  to  be  accomplished. 


237 


CHAPTER  SIX 

THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  IN  ENGLAND 
AND    THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 


IT  IS  not  very  strange  that  one  is  accustomed  to  think 
of  his  own  mental  ancestors  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of 
the  Renaissance  also,  as  so  far  removed  as  to  be  viewed 
as  chronological  curiosities  rather  than  as  real  con- 
tributors to  one's  present  state  of  mind.  A  closer 
acquaintance,  however,  seems  to  establish  pretty  clearly 
the  fact  that  they  are  not  so  different  from  us  as  we 
imagine,  and  that  the  more  we  know  of  them  the  better 
we  understand  not  only  them,  but  ourselves.  The 
closer  the  contact,  too,  the  more  fully  we  appreciate  the 
fundamental  instincts,  impulses,  and  powers  of  the 
human  mind,  and  the  more  deeply  we  are  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  a  complete  knowledge  of  facts 
and  circumstances  before  passing  final  judgment. 

The  eighteenth  century,  however,  does  not  appear  to 
us  so  far  away.  We  seem  to  be  able  to  realize  without 
much  difficulty  the  sensual  abandon  of  the  court  of 
Louis  XV,  the  artificial  and  unstable  times  of  Marie 
Antoinette  and  the  awful  retribution  of  the  French 
Revolution.  To  one  with  the  rudiments  of  an  imagina- 
tion it\is  not  difficult  to  picture  proud  and  gorgeous 
Venice,  dominated  but  not  debased,  sensuous  but  not 
sensual,  decadent  but  not  licentious,  frittering  away 
£38 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

her  remaining  substance,  and  thus  gradually  sapping 
the  very  life  energy  of  her  people.  An  examination,  too, 
of  the  art  expression  of  any  of  these  groups  seems  to 
reveal  to  us  again  the  unmistakable  quality  relations 
that  always  exist  between  man  and  his  works,  or  in 
other  words  between  the  mental  conception  and  the 
externalized  thought.  It  is  easy  for  us  to  see  relation- 
ships here  because  more  of  our  own  ideas,  ideals,  and 
practices  are  recognizable  in  eighteenth  century  life  as 
they  are  less  obscured  by  the  more  fundamental  require- 
ments and  aspirations  of  the  earlier  periods. 

To  us  whose  lot  has  fallen  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  France  and  Italy  are  of  vital  interest,  no 
matter  what  our  origin  or  training,  for  they  are  the 
centres  from  which  has  emanated  much  that  we  our- 
selves are,  and  still  more  of  what  we  live  in.  To  a 
large  proportion  of  us  much  has  come  from  these  sources 
by  indirect  filtration  through  other  national  ideals, 
being  in  some  measure  modified  by  the  mental  current 
through  which  it  has  passed. 

With  England  and  its  particular  interpretation  of 
these  ideals,  with  the  addition  of  its  own  peculiarly 
British  contribution,  we  are  even  more  closely  as- 
sociated from  this  period  on,  for  by  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century  England  had  begun  to  dominate  the 
civilization  of  the  Colonies,  and  by  the  middle  of  the 
century  this  process  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
complete. 

Even  in  the  third  quarter  of  the  century,  after  the 
independence  of  the  Colonies  permanently  severed  them 
from  political  domination,  in  spite  of  the  very  important 
influx  of  French  ideas  during,  and  immediately  after, 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

the  Revolution,  the  social  ideals  of  the  United  States  of 
America  were  about  as  English  as  those  of  England  it- 
self, and  the  setting  for  these  ideals  called  the  Colonial 
style,  was  but  a  youth's  interpretation  of  his  father's 
manner  of  doing  things.  This  ties  the  psychology  and 
the  art  expression  of  England  and  the  United  States  in  a 
common  knot  during  the  eighteenth  century,  rendering 
an  interrelation  between  them  essential  to  our  discussion 
of  their  social  life  and  its  expression. 

Even  a  brief  summary  of  the  political  history  of 
England  and  the  United  States  of  America  during  the 
eighteenth  century  would  seem  superfluous  here,  it  being 
so  well  known,  its  results  but  a  century  away,  some  of 
them  in  sooth  but  a  decade,  so  we  need  only  now  and 
then  correlate  certain  related  ideas,  and  perhaps 
designate  the  monarchs  and  other  persons  with  whose 
names  we  have  more  or  less  associated  events  and 
historical  documents  of  all  sorts,  both  in  England  and  at 
home. 

The  century  in  England  was  ushered  in  by  the  period 
of  Queen  Anne,  whose  reign  may  be  said  to  express  the 
last  gasp  of  monarchic  autocracy  in  the  art  of  England. 
Unlike  France,  committed  at  this  time  soul  and  body  to 
the  autocracy  of  kings  in  all  matters  of  manners,  morals, 
and  expression,  England,  for  centuries  the  cradle  of 
individualism,  was  the  logical  home  for  the  rebirth,  or 
rather  the  reassertion,  of  the  spirit  in  matters  of  art. 
While  the  art  of  the  period  was  called  Queen  Anne,  it 
seems  improbable  that  the  influence  of  the  queen,  or  of 
the  court  for  that  matter,  had  any  considerable  bearing 
upon  the  trend  of  art  or  even  upon  fashion.  In  the 
reigns  that  followed  it  would  be  inconceivable  to  connect 
240 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

even  for  a  moment  the  German  Georges,  much  less 
their  still  more  German  queens,  with  the  ideals  of 
England  as  they  were  expressed  in  the  various  social  art 
fields. 

Although  in  discussing  fashion  in  costumes  we  shall 
need  to  speak  of  it  in  connection  with  the  variety  of 
Georges  whose  reigns  completed  the  century,  we  shall 
be  thinking  in  general  terms  of  the  new  power,  for 
instance,  of  such  great  architects  as  Paine,  Taylor, 
Chambers,  and  Adams,  working  according  to  their 
ideals,  gentlemen  for  gentlemen.  Each  of  these  had 
taste,  and  was  doubtless  interested  in  the  classic  revival 
of  architecture  with  no  thought  of  what  the  attitude  of 
the  court  might  be  on  the  subject.  There  were  Chip- 
pendale, Hepplewhite,  Sheraton  and  other  great  cab- 
inet-makers who  comprehended  individual  expression, 
and  who  had  the  power  to  develop  their  conceptions 
in  the  broadest  way,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
styles  in  the  essential  furnishings  of  a  house  quite  unlike 
each  other,  perhaps  less  aesthetically  conceived  and 
executed  than  those  of  autocratic  France,  but  thought 
out  with  regard  to  function  no  less  effectively,  and 
surely  no  less  perfect  in  matters  of  technical  carpentry 
or  joinery  than  the  most  exacting  of  critics  could  desire. 
The  point  is  that  another  and  very  different  idea  was 
being  crystallized  and  expressed  than  that  which  came 
out  of  the  French  or  the  Italian  mind  in  this,  the 
greatest  social  century  of  our  development. 

It  was  the  old  idea  of  liberty  in  thought  and  action 
born  in  a  new  body,  social  this  time,  instead  of  religious    v 
or  political,  as  was  the  case  in  the  previous  centuries 
of  our  development.     In  this  England  led  the  civilized 

241 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

nations  of  the  world,  and  in  this  the  very  nature  of  the 
United  States  was  conceived.  Young  and  conscious 
only  of  a  part  of  her  powers,  she  undoubtedly,  con- 
sciously and  subconsciously,  copied  in  large  measure 
up  to  1776,  the  very  manners,  customs,  and  expressions 
of  her  parent  as  completely  as  possible,  considering 
distance,  the  difficulty  of  communication,  her  own 
limitations  and  the  undeveloped  means  of  transporting 
things  from  the  mother  country.  Her  aim  was  none 
the  less  clearly  defined:  to  be  like  her  parent  at  all 
costs,  and  when  able  to  do  so  to  be  even  more  English 
than  the  older  folk  across  the  sea.  This  must  be  re- 
membered when  we  discuss  eighteenth  century  fashions 
either  in  England  or  in  the  United  States,  for  we  were 
not  so  plain,  so  humble,  nor  so  modest  in  our  dress  as  is 
generally  supposed. 

We  find  even  France  conscious  of  this  individual 
initiative,  and  see  her  in  turn,  near  the  close  of  the 
century,  attempting  to  copy  the  ideas  and  practices  of 
|  England  with  a  frenzy  that  earned  the  well  deserved 
name  of  Anglomania;  and,  truth  to  tell,  Italy  was  no 
less  concerned  in  imitating  her  at  about  the  same  time. 

An  interesting  estimate  of  the  English  mind  as  seen 
by  an  Italian  Jesuit  who  visited  England  about  the 
middle  of  the  century,  is  found  in  one  of  his  letters  to  a 
Reverend  brother  at  Rome,  He  says:  "Nothing  is  so 
frequently  met  with  as  discontent  in  the  manners  and 
expressions  of  the  English  people,  and  nothing  so  un- 
common as  that  disposition  amongst  the  French;  a 
Briton  growls  at  his  situation  in  life  all  day  long,  and  a 
Frenchman  seems  pleased  with  his;  and  yet,  the  former 
extols  the  mode  of  his  government  beyond  all  others  in 
242 


ABOUT  1785.  VENETIAN.  THE  FASHIONS  OF  VERSAILLES  INTER- 
PRETED IN  ITALY  HAVE  A  CHARM  ALL  THEIR  OWN,  MADE  MORE 
INTERESTING  THROUGH  THEIR  PERSONAL  QUALITY. 


ABOUT     THE    MIDDLE     OF     THE     EIGHTEENTH     CENTURY.       ENGLISH. 
CHARMING  FROCK  OF  ENGLISH   SILK  MADE  IN  A  SIMPLE  FASHION. 


ABOUT  1760.  ENGLISH.  THE  EARLY  FASHION  OF  PETTICOAT  PROMI- 
NENCE AND  THE  EMBROIDERED  APRON.  THIS  WAS  WIDELY  COPIED 
IN  THE  COLONIES.  NOTICE  THE  FASHION  OF  THE  NECK  AND  SLEEVES. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

Europe,  and  affirms,  that  England  is  the  only  land  of 
liberty  and  happiness.  If  we  examine  the  waywardness 
of  an  Englishman  the  little  inclination  he  has  to  follow 
any  opinion  but  his  own,  whether  conceived  to  be  right, 
or  preferred  because  he  would  have  it  so,  we  shall  find 
something  in  him  not  to  be  found  in  a  Frenchman. 
This  same  cause  is  the  source  of  discontent  as  well  as 
waywardness."  The  difference  in  point  of  view  is  in 
this  case  the  key  to  the  whole  situation  and  explains 
at  once  the  mode  of  progress  of  the  individual  idea  and 
its  struggles,  as  well  as  the  possibilities  of  personal  con- 
tent where  one's  present  and  future  states  of  conscious- 
ness are  all  settled  for  him. 

May  we  be  pardoned  if  we  illustrate  this  attitude 
with  one  more  quotation  from  another  letter  of  this 
same  gentleman:  "No  creature  on  the  globe  has  half 
the  arrogance  of  the  Quaker;  he  accosts  the  king  him- 
self as  'Friend  George,'  the  minister  as  'Neighbour 
William,'  and  this  without  the  least  reluctance,  distrust 
of  himself,  or  mark  of  confusion."  A  situation  surely 
unthought  of  and  incredible  where  the  power  of  divine 
right  did  not  approach  being  completely  broken. 

Let  us  return  for  a  moment  to  the  period  of  Queen 
Anne,  when  the  crown  had  neutralized  some  of  the 
unpopularity  brought  upon  it  by  William  and  Mary,  and 
when  a  slight  outward  appearance  of  respect  between  it 
and  the  church  and  the  people  was  at  least  discernible, 
and  endeavour  to  see  what  was  the  underlying  cause  of 
the  disintegration  of  its  power  during  the  first  half  of  the 
century  and  hence  what  really  made  possible  the  out- 
burst of  individualism  about  the  middle  of  the  century. 

The  Treaty  of  Utrecht  had  forced  England  to  aban- 

243 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

don  her  hitherto  unchallenged  position  of  isolation,  com- 
pelling her  to  become  more  openly  and  interestedly 
associated  with  the  other  great  European  powers.  The 
rapid  growth  of  the  Colonies  in  America  and  their 
accumulation  of  wealth,  with  their  corresponding 
aspirations  to  be  both  seen  and  heard  at  home  and 
abroad  was  making  commercial  interests  and  the 
possibilities  in  new  materials  and  newly  acquired  wealth 
a  problem.  Religious  tangles  were  in  no  wise 
straightened  out  as  they  constantly  became  more  in- 
volved with  political  problems.  This  had  a  weakening 
effect  and  resulted  in  many  complications.  The  spirit 
of  religion  suffered  and  became  so  weakened  that  by  the 
middle  of  the  century  it  seemed  sometimes  inoperative. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  (in  1714)  George  I  was  called  to 
the  English  throne,  which  he  occupied  until  1727,  his 
successor  George  II  reigning  until  1760.  This  epoch, 
"lain  out  by  an  all  wise  Providence"  as  a  writer  has  it 
(and  by  the  way  there  is  more  than  a  sense  of  humour  in 
this),  may  be  thought  of  as  one  modified  perhaps  in  its 
ideals  by  the  peculiarities  of  the  two  German  queens. 
The  latter  and  more  interesting  one  seems  to  have,  at 
least  for  a  time,  obliged  her  royal  spouse  to  obey  his 
minister,  who  happened  up  to  1742  to  be  none  other 
than  the  great  Horace  Walpole.  These  facts  are  only 
mentioned  as  an  assistance  in  recalling  the  picture  of  a 
political,  religious,  social  situation  in  which  individu- 
alism flourished. 

In  a  period  so  fraught  with  events  and  so  intimately 
associated  with  the  names  of  individuals  who  created 
public  opinion  as  well  as  of  those  who  created  objects  in 
answer  to  the  expressed  needs  of  the  public,  it  is  neither 
244 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

needful  nor  seemly  to  attempt  to  correlate  the  arts  as 
we  have  done  in  earlier  periods  where  the  facts  and 
persons  were  less  clearly  in  mind,  so  we  will  confine  our- 
selves mainly  to  the  art  of  costume,  to  fashion  and  to  the 
social  state  of  mind  that  produced  them. 

To  begin  with,  Goldsmith  gives  us  his  opinion  of  the 
English  lady  of  this  period,  compared  with  her  clothes, 
in  an  essay  where  he  says : ' '  Foreigners  observe  that  there  v 
are  no  ladies  in  the  world  more  beautiful  or  more  ill- 
dressed  than  those  of  England.  Our  countrywomen 
have  been  compared  to  those  pictures  where  the  face  is 
the  work  of  a  Raphael,  but  the  draperies  thrown  out  by 
some  empty  pretender,  destitute  of  taste,  and  entirely 
unacquainted  with  designs  ...  If  I  were  a  poet  I 
might  observe,  on  this  occasion,  that  so  much  beauty, 
set  off  with  all  the  advantages  of  dress,  would  be  too 
powerful  an  antagonist  for  the  opposite  sex;  and  there- 
fore it  was  wisely  ordered  that  our  ladies  should 
want  taste,  lest  their  admirers  should  entirely  want 


reason." 


Another  English  writer  says  of  the  same  ladies,  how- 
ever, that  "It  has  always  been,  and  is  still,  a  stock 
saying  with  foreigners  that  English  women  are  ill- 
dressed,  but  the  saying  has  little  point  in  it,  since  the 
majority  of  English  fashions  still  come  from  abroad. 
On  the  comparatively  rare  occasions  when  the  English 
women  rely  upon  their  own  invention,  taste,  and 
judgment,  they  appear  better  dressed  than  the  women 
of  any  European  country."  He  forgets  though  that  an 
Aztec  woman  may  not  look  well-dressed  in  the  fashions 
of  the  French  court,  nor  the  French  lady  necessarily 
well-dressed  in  the  best  fashions  of  Aztec  land,  since  the 

245 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

harmony  of  the  individual  with  his  clothes  is  as  impor- 
tant as  the  source  of  the  fashion. 

Every  sidelight  as  to  the  point  of  view  is  interesting 
when  attempting  to  see  relationships,  and  nowhere  is 
there  to  be  found  more  diverse  and  amusing  estimates 
than  those  relating  to  England  at  this  time. 

An  Italian  priest  finds  so  great  a  difference  in  tem- 
perament and  in  family  life  between  England  and  Italy 
that  he  thus  writes  a  friend  at  Rome  about  the  middle 
of  the  century:  "That  women  have  separate  delights 
than  those  of  a  husband's  company,  is  nothing  surpris- 
ing to  an  Italian:  but  that  there  should  be  so  little 
conversation  between  men  and  their  wives  when  they 
are  not  disagreeable  to  each  other,  is  somewhat  singular. 
It  is  no  uncommon  thing  in  London,  perhaps  it  is  the 
most  common,  for  a  couple  to  live  together  on  very 
good  terms,  who  have  not  the  least  real  love  for  each 
other:  if  their  condition  of  life  supplies  them  with 
money  enough,  each  person  has  his  separate  pleasures. 
.  .  .  When  either  one  dies  the  survivor  makes  a 
handsome  funeral  and  looks  out  for  another  partner." 
Too  familiar  a  doctrine  no  doubt  to  need  repetition 
here,  but  a  manifestation  of  individualism  in  social 
life  new  to  the  writer  if  old  to  us. 

This  same  personage's  insistence  in  another  letter 
that  the  reason  even  the  English  esteem  the  ladies  of 
Italy  and  France  so  much  more  highly  than  those  of 
England,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  latter  have  so  little 
practice  in  training  the  young  men  in  the  art  of  love- 
making  that  they  neglect  to  cultivate  their  minds  to  a 
point  of  perfectness  where  they  can  understand  them. 
He  tells  how  English  youth  spend  the  years  from  thir- 
246 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

teen  to  twenty-four  or  five  in  the  university,  instructed 
by  men,  while  the  ladies  sit  and  wait  or  frivol  away 
their  time,  while  in  France  the  youth  of  thirteen  is 
turned  over  to  the  women  of  the  social  set,  and  he  is_/ 
instructed  by  these  ladies  in  manner  as  befits  his  future 
occupation  of  social  amusement.  This  the  writer  in- 
sists necessitates  a  "female  mind"  so  complete  and  so 
trained  as  to  be  able  to  do  honour  to  the  calling  which 
has  fallen  to  her  lot.  Perchance  we  had  all  noticed  the 
difference  he  points  out  but  had  not  seen  it  exactly  from 
this  point  of  view  before. 

Some  good  sound  advice  was  being  given  about  dress  j 
along  with  the  satire,  wit,  and  other  criticism  of  the  ( 
time.  From  "The  Ladies  Library"  published  in  1739 
we  take  the  following:  "Affectation  in  Dress  always' 
misses  the  End  it  aims  at,  and  raises  Contempt  instead  of 
Admiration.  Negligence  is  on  the  other  hand  an  Error 
that  ought  to  be  corrected;  Neatness,  Proportion,  and 
Decency  of  Dress,  are  always  commendable.  Virtue  it- 
self is  disagreeable  in  a  Sloven;  and  that  lady  who  takes 
no  Care  of  herself  will  find  no  body  will  care  for  her. 
The  Fault  is  the  Excess:  Mind  your  Persons,  but  mind 
your  Understandings  too.  .  .  .  Let  Ladies,  above 
all  things,  consult  Decency  and  Ease;  never  to  expose 
nor  torture  Nature,  Fashion  is  always  aiming  at  Perfec- 
tion, but  never  finds  it,  or  never  stops  where  it  should: 
'Tis  always  mending,  but  never  improving:  A  true 
Labour  in  vain;  and  consequently  those  that  follow  it, 
are  guilty  of  the  highest  Folly  and  Madness.  To 
change  for  the  sake  of  Changing,  is  to  submit  to  the 
Government  of  Caprice;  and  that  Man  or  Woman  that 
is  given  up  to  it,  will  surely  be  as  whimsical  in  the  other 

247 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

parts  of  their  Conduct.  Is  it  sufficient  for  a  reasonable 
Mind,  to  like  a  thing  purely  because  'tis  new,  or  to  dis- 
like it  because  it  is  not?  Must  a  foolish  Fashion  please 
me,  for  that  'tis  a  Novelty,  and  a  good  one  displease,  be- 
cause I  have  try'd  it  and  found  it  so?  If  Fops  reckon 
wise  Men  out  of  their  Wits  when  they  are  out  of  the 
Fashion,  wise  Men  have  certainly  much  more  ground  to 
think  them  mad  when  they  are  in  it." 

From  the  same  source  we  get  "If  Dress,  as  we  are 
told  in  Scripture,  was  to  cover  Nakedness,  it  seems  in 
our  Days  not  to  answer  the  End  of  it,  especially  with  the 
Ladies;  who,  one  would  imagine  by  their  Dress,  are  so 
far  from  reckoning  themselves  obliged  to  their  Mother 
Eve,  for  dressing  them,  that  they  are  for  throwing  away 
the  very  Fig-leaves;  they  have  already  uncovered  their 
Shoulders  and  Breasts,  and  as  they  have  gone  so  far  in 
a  few  Months,  what  may  they  not  do  in  Years?" 

Let  us  see  how  all  this  variety  of  opinion  really 
worked  out  when  it  was  aggregated,  assimilated  and 
submitted  to  fashion  and  her  demands  for  a  compromise 
and  afterward  an  expression  in  clothes.  The  assuming 
of  French  fashions  in  manners  and  in  clothes  presents 
quite  a  problem  to  any  nation  not  French,  to  whom,  in 
consequence,  these  manners  or  clothes  are  not  a  heri- 
tage. The  more  remotely  related  in  ideas  those  were 
who  espoused  the  alien  expression,  the  more  grotesque 
the  appearance  and  the  more  unnatural  the  affilia- 
tion. 

By  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  could  anybody  fancy 
even  a  fairly  intelligent  Englishman  assuming  success- 
fully the  role  of  a  French  dandy,  and  no  doubt  that  is 
the  reason  why  all  historians  of  costume,  as  well  as 
248 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

satirists  and  wits,  seem  to  have  selected  this  species  for 
special  exploitation.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when 
we  reflect  what  the  product  must  have  been  like. 
"Fancy  the  beaux  thronging  the  chocolate  houses, 
tapping  their  snuffboxes  as  they  issue  thence,  their 
periwig  appearing  over  the  red  curtains.  We  find  our- 
selves willingly  discussing  the  shoes  of  the  King  of 
France  with  a  crowd  of  powdered  beaux,  those  shoes, 
the  dandyism  of  which  has  never  been  surpassed,  the 
heels  if  you  please  painted  by  Vandermeulen,  with 
scenes  from  Rhenish  victories,  or  we  go  to  the  toy  shops 
in  Fleet  Street  where  we  make  assignations  or  buy  us  a 
mask.  Everywhere  the  beaux.  He  rides  the  world 
like  a  cockhorse  or  like  Og  the  giant  rode  the  Ark  of 
Noah  steering  it  with  his  feet,  getting  his  washing  for 
nothing  and  his  meals  passed  up  to  him  out  of  the 
chimney.  Here  the  beaux,  the  everlasting  beaux  in  * 
gold  lace,  wide  cuffs,  full  skirts,  swinging  cane,  a  scarf  of 
flashing  colour,  the  coats  embroidered  with  flowers 
and  butterflies,  the  cuffs  a  mass  of  fine  sewing,  the 
three  cornered  hats  cocked  at  a  jaunty  angle,  the 
stockings  rolled  above  the  knees,  lacquer  hilted  swords, 
paste  buckles,  gold  and  silver  snuffboxes  flashing  in  the 
sun."  This,  taken  directly  from  a  History  of  English 
Costume,  shows  this  particular  type  in  a  not  too  ob- 
noxious manner. 

In  1768  the  beau  with  his  muff  was  thus  satirized  in 
" Lionel  and  Clarissa, "  a  comic  opera: 

"A  coxcomb,  a  fop,  a  dainty  milk-sop; 
Who,  essenc'd  and  dizen'd  from  bottom  to  top, 
Looks  just  like  a  doll  for  a  milliner's  shop. 

249 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

A  thing  full  of  prate,  and  pride  and  conceit, 

All  fashion,  no  weight; 

Who  shrugs  and  takes  snuff;  and  carries  a  muff; 
A  minnikin,  finicking,  French  powder-puff." 

A  non-productive  existence  through  social  blandish- 
ments seems  not  to  have  been  so  respected  a  vocation  in 
England  as  it  was  in  other  lands,  yet  it  flourished  there 
to  prove  the  old  adage  that  "it  takes  all  kinds  to  make  a 
world"  and  convinces  us  that  no  specimen  is,  was,  or 
ever  has  been  entirely  missing.  The  finishing  touch  is 
given  this  phase  by  a  lady  who  writes :  "Foppery  in  dress 
has  been  so  well  ridiculed  by  men  of  wit  that  we  are 
less  troubled  with  it  than  ever.  While  it  was  a  sin  only, 
and  was  ranked  under  the  heads  of  Pride  and  Vanity, 
while  Damnation  was  the  only  Punishment,  it  flourished 
amain !  but  now  it  is  become  a  Jest,  and  the  Fop  is  sure 
to  be  laughed  at,  he  avoids  that  for  the  sake  of  his 
character,  which  he  would  not  have  avoided  for  the 
Sake  of  his  Salvation."  Severe  arraignments  these  for 
individual  freedom  in  expressing  one's  personal  inter- 
pretation of  foreign  ideas  in  borrowed  fashions. 
.,  The  costumes  in  general  during  the  period  of  George  I 
yare  not  Over-interesting,  but  these  observations  may  be 
helpful  in  sensing  the  general  and  the  particular  states 
of  mind  and  the  consequent  point  of  view  as  to  fashion 
y  and  its  practical  application.  Shoemakers,  milliners, 
v  and  dressmakers  were  generally  French  importations. 
When  they  did  not  work  in  London  their  creations  were 
imported  in  great  quantities,  and  we  see  the  native 
creators  of  costumes  hard  at  work  copying  those  that 
had  successfully  crossed  the  Channel. 
250 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 
ENGLISH.  A  BROCADE  GOWN  WITH  QUILTED  SILK  PETTICOAT 
AND  CALASH  HEADPIECE.  SHOWS  FRENCH  INFLUENCE  IN  CUT. 
THIS  WAS  ALSO  COPIED  IN  THE  COLONIES. 


ABOUT  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  NEW  ENGLAND 
COLONIAL  (WIFE  OF  A  MERCHANT).  AN  EXCELLENT  EXAMPLE 
OF  THE  RESULTS  OF  PURITAN  IDEALS  IN  DRESS  AFTER  ONE  CENTURY 

OF   DEVELOPMENT. 


A  LITTLE  PAST  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  COLO- 
NIAL. NO  TRACE  OF  PURITAN  RESTRAINT,  NO  INDICATION  OF  NEW 
ENGLAND  THRIFT,  AND  NO  LACK  OF  FASHION'S  POWER,  IS  SEEN  HERE. 


THIRD  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  IN  RICHNESS 
OF  MATERIAL  THIS  MIGHT  WELL  HAVE  BEEN  FRENCH  INSTEAD  OF 
COLONIAL,  ALTHOUGH  IN  CUT  AND  IN  FEELING  IT  IS  DISTINCTLY 
ENGLISH. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

In  a  letter  written  to  the  "Spectator,"  in  praise  of 
French  fashion,  we  have  this:  "You  cannot  imagine, 
worthy  sir,  how  ridiculously  I  find  we  have  all  been 
trussed  up  during  the  war,  and  how  infinitely  the 
French  dress  excells  ours.  The  mantua  has  no  lead  in 
the  sleeves,  and  I  hope  we  are  not  lighter  than  the 
French  ladies,  so  as  to  want  that  kind  of  ballast;  the 
petticoat  has  no  whalebone,  but  sets  with  an  air  al- 
together gallant  and  degage;  the  coiffure  is  inexpressibly 
pretty,  and  in  short  the  whole  dress  has  a  thousand 
beauties  in  it." 

An  inventory  of  1720  assures  us  that  out  of  a  very 
long  list  of  essentials  for  every  lady's  wardrobe  and 
toilet  nearly  every  article,  except  some  coarse  woollen 
ones,  was  of  foreign  make,  including  pomatums,  patches, 
powder,  wire,  whalebone  and  hoops,  beside  jewels, 
combs,  and  essences.  The  conclusion  of  the  writer  is 
that  England  may  at  least  speed  up  her  manufacture 
and  use  of  woollen  stuffs  if  nothing  more. 

The  riding-habit  made  its  first  appearance  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II  persisting  through 
the  period  of  Queen  Anne,  and  we  quote  Addison's 
opinion  of  this  fashion  which  he  delivered  in  the  follow- 
ing words:  "Among  the  several  female  extravagances 
I  have  already  taken  notice  of,  there  is  one  which  still 
keeps  its  ground.  I  mean  that  of  the  ladies  who  dress 
themselves  in  a  hat  and  feather,  a  riding-coat  and  a 
perriwig,  or  at  least  tie  up  their  hair  in  a  bag  or  ribbon, 
in  imitation  of  the  smart  part  of  the  opposite  sex." 

And  then  he  pictures  the  gentlemen's  habit  with  his 
own  personal  reaction  to  it  as  follows:  "His  hair, 
well  curled  and  powdered,  hung  to  a  considerable  length 

251 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

on  his  shoulders,  and  was  tied  as  if  by  the  hand  of  his 
mistress  with  a  scarlet  ribband,  which  played  like  a 
streamer  behind  him;  he  had  a  coat  and  waistcoat  of 
blue  camlet  trimmed  and  embroidered  with  silver,  a 
cravat  of  the  finest  lace,  and  wore  in  a  smart  cock, 
a  little  beaver  hat  edged  with  silver,  and  made  more 
sprightly  by  a  feather.  ...  As  I  was  pitying  the 
luxury  of  this  young  person,  who  appeared  to  me  to 
have  been  only  educated  as  an  object  of  sight,  I  per- 
ceived on  my  nearer  approach,  and  as  I  turned  my  eye 
downward,  a  part  of  the  equipage  I  had  not  observed 
before,  which  was  a  petticoat  of  the  same  as  the  coat  and 
waistcoat." 

In  the  reign  of  George  I  Walpole  says:  "The  habits  of 
the  times  were  shrunk  into  awkward  coats  and  waist- 
coats for  the  men;  and  for  the  women,  to  tight-laced 
gowns,  round  hoops,  and  half-a-dozen  squeezed  plaits 
of  linen,  to  which  dangled  behind  two  unmeaning  pen- 
dants, called  lappets,  not  half  covering  their  straight- 
drawn  hair."  Mary  Margaret  Egerton  tells  us  that 
"the  hoop  now  underwent  many  important  changes," 
and  that  "the  high-heeled  shoes  remained.  Tight 
sleeves  with  full  ruffles;  small -pointed  waists  enclosed 
in  whalebone;  loose  gowns  called  sacques;  and  cloaks 
with  hoods  named  cardinals,  were  now  la  grande  mode." 

Among  gentlemen's  costumes  the  most  striking  nov- 
elty of  this  time  was  the  Ramilie  tail,  which  was  a 
plaited  tail  to  the  wig,  with  an  immense  bow  at  the  top 
and  a  smaller  one  at  the  bottom.  To  Lord  Bolingbroke 
the  elegantes  are  indebted  for  the  fashion  of  tying  the 
hair,  which  hitherto  had  been  formed  into  curls  on  the 
back  of  the  neck.  "  Hats  were  of  every  shape.  Nether 
252 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

garments  were  fastened  below  the  knees,  and  the  stock- 
ings no  longer  covered  them." 

Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  once  assured  a  young  lady  in 
riding-dress  that  he  all  but  addressed  her  as  "Sir," 
and  a  letter  written  in  1728  assures  a  friend  that  he,  the 
writer,  had  almost  wasted  his  gallantries  upon  a  beau 
whom  he  had  actually  mistaken  for  "a  lady  in  habit." 

Colours  are  described  as  "very  striking";  petticoats 
of  black  satin  with  bunches  of  flowers  in  bright  colours, 
morning  dresses  of  flowered  yellow  satin  faced  with 
cherry  coloured  bands;  waistcoats  of  one  colour  and 
fringes  and  bands  of  another,  bodices  heavily  embroid- 
ered in  coloured  flowers  and  many  other  striking  and 
variegated  effects  seem  to  indicate  the  appreciation 
for  sensation  rather  than  taste.  Many  of  these  ideas  ^ 
will  be  recognized  as  having  their  origin  in  the  Regency 
and  the  early  Louis  XV  styles,  but  from  all  documentary 
evidence  their  choice  and  adaptation  in  England  was 
generally  foreign  to  the  taste  and  feeling  which  created 
them. 

For  convenience  in  picturing  the  second  quarter  of  the 
century  we  associate  it  with  the  name  of  George  II 
(1727  to  1760),  whose  temper,  as  an  English  historian 
has  it,  may  be  likened  to  "that  of  a  drill  sergeant  who 
believed  himself  master  of  his  realm,  while  he  repeated 
the  lessons  he  had  learnt  from  his  wife."  The  same 
historian  tells  us  that  both  his  character,  and  that  of 
George  I  "as  nearly  approached  insignificance  as  it  is 
possible  for  human  character  to  approach  it,"  which 
seems  to  indicate  a  type  requiring  some  imagination 
on  our  part  to  conceive.  And  yet  in  spite  of  this  the 
court  is  remembered  (if  we  may  believe  the  memoirs) 

253 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

for  its  wit  and  its  feminine  charm.  In  this  is  seen  the 
general  wave  of  cultivation  that  swept  Europe  at  this 
time,  was  centred  in  France,  and  modified  by  the  na- 
tional qualities  or  the  prevailing  state  of  mind  in  each 
country  by  which  it  was  adopted.  Its  interest  for  us  is 
found  in  just  these  individual  differences  in  expressing 
the  same  general  idea. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that  in  France  since  the  days  of 
Francis  I  (with  the  exception  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV 
and  even  then  indirectly)  fashion  was  dictated  by  the 
important  court  ladies  in  royal  favour  or  seeking  it. 
In  Italy,  after  the  decline  was  well  under  way,  the  inter- 
est of  the  men  in  costume  seemed  to  increase  as  thex 
process  developed,  and  at  least  they  were  masters  inv 
their  own  realm  and  seem  to  have  found  their  own  ap- 
pearance of  greater  importance  than  anything  else  in  life. 

England  has  always  been  a  man's  country.  Appar- 
ently there  has  never  been  an  exception  to  this  even 
in  the  matter  of  personal  adornment,  but  in  this  epoch 
French  fashions  seemed  to  be  less  at  home  on  English 
gentlemen  than  they  were  at  Versailles,  and  truth  to 
tell  the  English  selections  do  not  seem  always  to  have 
been  made  with  the  same  intuitive  taste  then,  as  by 
their  neighbours  across  the  Channel.  This  adds  to 
the  amusement  derived  from  the  results  as  seen  from 
an  Anglo-Saxon  point  of  view. 

One  could  as  easily  imagine  an  Englishman  in  the 
streets  of  to-day  without  a  coat  or  boots,  as  without  an 
umbrella.  '  Rain  or  shine  (and  in  London  one  always 
expects  rain)  the  umbrella  is  his  constant  companion, 
though  even  so  necessary  an  accessory  was  evidently  a 
French  fashion,  and  a  hard  struggle  it  had  too  before  it 
254 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

gained  general  acceptance.  It  is  related  that  one, 
Jonas  Han  way,  in  1756  set  the  fashion,  that  up  to 
then  its  use  was  confined  exclusively  to  the  female  sex. 
Most  amusing  anecdotes  are  told  of  the  experiences  of 
those  men  who  adopted  this  "effeminate  fashion  of 
the  French."  A  certain  John  MacDonald,  valet  or 
footman  in  several  noble  families  writes  that,  "If  it 
rained  I  wore  my  fine  silk  umbrella:  then  the  people 
would  call  after  me,  'What,  Frenchman,  why  do  you 
not  get  a  coach?'.  .  .  but  I  went  straight  on  and 
took  no  notice.  'I  was  going  to  dine  in  Norfolk  Street 
on  Sunday.  It  rained,  my  sister  had  hold  of  my  arm 
and  I  had  the  umbrella  over  our  heads.  In  Tavistock 
Street  we  met  so  many  young  men,  calling  after  us, 
'Frenchman,  take  care  of  your  umbrella,  Frenchman, 
why  do  you  not  get  a  coach,  monsieur?" 

Calthrop's  "English  Costume"  takes  a  humorous 
view,  beginning  the  discussion  of  this  reign  with  a 
description  of  the  vagaries  and  changes  in  wigs.  He 
speaks  of  "a  veritable  confusion  of  barbers'  enthusi- 
asms," and  names  for  us  such  ones  as  "pigeon's-wing- 
wigs,"  "full-tails,"  "cauliflower,"  "staircase,"  "ladder," 
"bags,"  "drop-wigs,"  etc.,  each  of  which  is  expres- 
sive, if  not  as  imaginative  or  as  romantic  as  the 
names  given  these  things  by  their  French  neighbours. 
The  same  writer  tells  of  hats  perched  awry  on  the  top  / 
of  these  piles,  "broad  brimmed,  narrow  brimmed, 
round,  three  cornered,  high  brimmed,  low  brimmed, 
turned  high  off  forehead,  turned  low  in  front  and  high 
at  the  back — an  endless  crowd."  Facts  cease  to  be  as 
astonishing  or  as  amusing  as  our  mental  pictures  of  the 
English  types  that  wore  these  things. 

255 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

In  general  we  are  told  that  gentlemen's  coats  grew 
fuller,  until  on  the  top  it  became  a  great  spreading  skirt 
just  buttoned  by  one  or  two  buttons  at  the  waist,  and 
here  we  stop  to  shiver  at  the  thought  of  what  may 
happen  to  our  own  "young  men's  latest"  belted,  tight- 
waisted  Empire  looking  coats  seen  in  1920. 

These  coats  were  embroidered  all  over  or  laced,  had 
huge  cuffs,  then  small  ones,  so  that  by  the  middle  of 
the  century  fashion  changed  so  rapidly  that  "one  knew 
the  exact  year  of  a  coat  he  met  in  the  street."  This 
is  too  modern  to  record  perhaps  but  "history  repeats  it- 
self" is  no  idle  saying,  sinceit  really  means  that  the 
fundamental  impulses  of  man  reassert  themselves  ever 
and  anon,  each  in  its  turn  so  dominating  his  other  im- 
pulses that  he  falls  to  expressing  it  as  strongly  as  he  can. 

Waistcoats  were  long,  at  one  time  nearly  to  the 

knees,  fringed  and  flowered  and  open  to  show  a  velvet 

bow  and  lace  cravat.     Lace  was  worn  at  the  wrists,  and 

a  snuff  box  in  the  hand  was  essential  to  perfect  form. 

v  Every  man  of  fashion  carried  a  muff  in  winter,  all  sizes 

<l  were  worn  from  a  huge  one  to  a  tiny  one  too  small  to  be 

of  any  use. 

Not  all  men  of  all  classes  accepted  the  extremes  in 
fashion  for  we  find  several  authorities  who  insist  that 
"a  man's  a  man  for  all  his  tailor  tells  him  he  is  a  walking 
fashion  plate,"  or  that,  "even  the  universal  desire  to 
dress  up  on  the  Queen's  birthday  did  not  affect  the 
most  serious  minded"  of  the  men. 

George  Romney  in  Paris  on  his  way  to  Genoa  in  1773 
observes:  "What  with  the  French  imitating  us,  and 
we  them,  the  manners  and  dresses  of  the  two  great 
cities  are  brought  pretty  nearly  up  on  a  level.  .  .  . 
256 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

The  principal  difference  I  have  osberved  in  dress  is, 
that  the  men,  from  the  Prince  to  the  valet  de  chambre 
wear  muffs  of  enormous  size  slung  round  their  waists. 
.  .  .  I  have  not  seen  a  woman's  hat  on,  in  any  order 
of  people.  The  English  ladies  dress  with  more  ele- 
gance and  greater  variety  and  as  to  beauty  and  senti- 
ment, the  French  hold  no  comparison  with  them. 
.  .  .  Everything  must  have  the  air  of  a  dancer  or 
actor,  the  colour  of  a  painted  beauty  and  the  dress  re- 
commended by  the  barber  tailor  and  mantua  maker." 
He  speaks  of  the  bad  taste  and  the  contempt  in  which 
they  hold  all  things  classic  or  standardized.^  This 
points  out  well  the  tendencies  of  the  times  in  France, 
the  greater  individuality  among  English  ladies  and  the 
excesses  in  frivolity  and  absurdity  at  the  French  court, 
but  we  remember  it  was  the  impression  of  an  English 
gentleman  of  taste  and  refinement  who  never  accepted 
or  imitated  French  excesses,  nor,  probably,  associated 
much  with  those  who  had. 

Speaking  of  the  universal  use  of  paint  and  powder 
a  costume  historian  writes:  "This  fashion  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  ladies,  I  am  ashamed  to  tell  you  that  we 
are  indebted  to  Spanish  wool  for  many  of  our  masculine! 
ruddy  complexions.     A  pretty  fellow  lacquers  his  pale 
face  with  as  many  varnishes  as  a  fine  lady.     Many  of     • 
my  readers  will,  I  dare  say,  be  hardly  persuaded  that 
this  custom  could  have  ever  prevailed  as  a  branch  of 
male  foppery;  but  it  is  too  notorious  that  our  fine  gen- 
tlemen, in  various  other  instances  besides  the  article  of 
paint,  affect  the  softness  and  delicacy  of  the  fair  sex. 
The  male  beauty  has  his  washes,  perfumes,  and  cos-  ^ 
metics,  and  takes  as  much  pains  to  set  a  gloss  on  his 

257 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

complexion  as  the  footman  in  japanning  his  shoes.  He 
has  his  dressing-room,  and  (which  is  still  more  ridiculous) 
his  toilet,  too." 

During  the  early  years  of  this  reign  ladies  wore  huge 
hoops,  and  a  stiff  formal  skirt  like  a  bell-balloon  was 
worn  over  them.  Square  bodices  laced  and  a  necker- 
chief of  linen  were  worn.  Over  and  under  sleeves  were 
in  fashion  and  a  tucked  or  ruffled  apron.  Later  on  a 
sacque  was  adopted  which  hung  loose  from  the  shoul- 
ders. Shoe  heels  were  very  high,  and  the  hair  was  tied  >/ 
in  a  knot  behind,  then  puffed  at  the  sides  and  powdered. 
Sometimes  the  hair  was  real  and  sometimes  false.  Lit- 
tle caps,  small  straw  hats,  and  other  small  headgear 
were  not  unusual. 

In  1755  the  one  horse  chairs,  or  cabriolets,  came  in 
from  France,  and  the  mania  for  original  sensations  was 
shown  in  the  way  even  men  embroidered  these  on  their 
waistcoats,  painted  them  on  their  socks  and  went  so 
far  as  to  cut  out  silk  ones  to  use  for  face  patches.  Fin- 
ally these  were  exploited  in  head-dresses,  when  the 
extreme  was  reached.  On  the  other  hand  native  Engv 
lish  conservatism  and  dogged  adherence  to  tradition 
even  in  all  this  orgy  of  decadence  in  clothes  is  very  well 
and  a  musingly  pictured  by  the  conservative  Scottish 
historian,  Smollett,  in  his  "Travels  through  France  and 
Italy,"  published  in  1766.  *  He  writes  from  Paris  to  a 
lady  in  England:  "With  respect  to  the  ladies  I  can  only 
judge  from  their  exteriors;  but  indeed  these  are  so  char- 
acteristic that  one  can  hardly  judge  amiss,  unless  we 
suppose  that  a  woman  of  taste  and  sentiment  may  be 
so  overruled  by  the  absurdities  of  what  is  called  fashion 
as  to  reject  reason  and  dignified  nature,  in  order  to  be- 
258 


ABOUT  1770.  COLONIAL.  WIFE  OF  THE  LAST  ROYAL  GOVERNOR  OF 
NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  THE  WAY  OF  DRESSING  THE  HAIR,  THE  RICH- 
NESS OF  THE  MATERIAL,  AND  THE  CUT,  SUGGEST  FRENCH  INFLUENCE, 
WHILE  THE  GENERAL  MANNER  IS  ENGLISH. 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  THIRD  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 
ONE  OF  THE  STYLES  OF  GEORGE  III.  THIS  INTERESTING  INTER- 
PRETATION IS  STRICTLY  ENGLISH  IN  FEELING. 


ABOUT  1770.  ENGLISH.  DISTINCTLY  FRENCH  INFLUENCE  IN  THE 
DRESSING  OF  THE  HAIR.  THE  GOWN  IS  OF  HEAVY  BROCADE  AND 
EXPRESSES  A  FASHION  BOTH  ENGLISH  AND  COLONIAL. 


NEAR  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY.  ENGLISH.  SIGNS  OF  THE  STYLES  BOTH  OF  LOUIS  XV 
AND  LOUIS  XVI  ARE  EVIDENT  HERE;  BUT  THEY  ARE  INTERPRETED, 
PARTICULARLY  IN  THE  SKIRT,  NECK,  AND  HAT,  IN  AN  ENGLISH  MAN- 
NER, OF  EXQUISITE  CHARM. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

come  ridiculous  or  frightful.  That  this  may  be  the 
case  with  some  individuals  is  very  possible.  I  have 
known  it  happen  in  our  own  country,  where  the  follies 
of  the  French  are  adopted,  and  exhibited  in  the  most 
awkward  imitations,  but  the  general  prevalence  of 
these  preposterous  modes  is  a  plain  proof  that  there  is  a 
general  want  of  taste  and  a  general  depravity  of  nature 
in  feelings.  ...  I  will  be  bold  to  affirm  that 
France  is  the  general  reservoir,  from  which  all  the  ab- 
surdities of  false  taste,  luxury,  and  extravagance  have 
overflowed  the  different  kingdoms  and  states  of  Europe. 
The  springs  that  fill  this  reservoir  are  no  other  than 
vanity  and  ignorance." 

He  concedes  to  the  fair  sex  the  possible  right  to  re- 
sort to  white  and  vermilion  in  extreme  cases  of  old  age 
or  skin  ruined  by  disease,  "but  to  lay  it  on  as  the  fash- 
ion in  France  prescribes  to  all  the  ladies  of  condition 
.  .  .  is  to  disgrace  themselves  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  render  them  odious  and  detestable  to  every 
spectator."  He  decries  the  fact  that  no  married  lady 
may  appear  at  court  or  other  fashionable  assembly 
without  this  horrible  badge  of  indecency,  so  that  the 
bourgeoisie  dare  not  even  attempt  to  break  through 
this  social  barrier  or  distinction.  For  the  "vast  load, 
of  frizzled  false  hair"  resembling  the  "woolly  heads  of 
Guinea  negroes"  he  has  supreme  contempt,  and  be- 
lieves it  must  be  a  borrowed  custom  from  the  Hotten- 
tots; and  then  he  remarks,  as  if  in  sheer  desperation: 
"When  I  see  one  of  these  fine  creatures  sailing  along 
in  her  tawdry  robes  of  silk  and  gauze,  frilled  and 
flounced  and  furbelowed,  with  her  false  books,  her 
false  jewels,  her  paint,  her  patches,  and  perfumes  I 

259 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

cannot  help  looking  upon  her  as  the  vilest  piece  of  so- 
phistication that  art  has  ever  produced."  This  is 
decidedly  taken  from  the  viewpoint  of  England- 
individual,  amusing,  enlightening,  and  no  doubt  ex- 
pressive of  quite  a  representative  type  of  British  mind, 
a  part  of  which  is  the  essence  of  Puritan  early  Colonial 
taste. 

Of  their  conversational  powers  he  says  that  from 
the  nursery  they  are  encouraged  to  say  everything 
uppermost  in  their  minds,  by  which  they  acquire  a 
volubility  of  tongue  and  a  mass  of  set  phrases  called 
"polite  conversation."  Those  who  have  no  gover- 
nesses for  this  purpose,  he  says,  are  sent  for  a  few  years 
to  a  convent  "where  they  lay  in  a  fund  of  superstition 
that  serves  them  for  life."  He  has  never  heard  of  the 
least  opportunity  for  cultivating  the  mind,  exercising 
the  power  of  reason,  or  of  imbibing  a  taste  for  letters  or 
any  other  rational  or  useful  accomplishment.  From 
this  state  of  things  and  the  natural  vanity  of  their  tem- 
per, he  concludes,  "I  should  expect  neither  sense,  sen- 
timent, nor  discretion,"  and  evidently  he  was  not  dis- 
appointed in  his  expectations. 

The  long  reign  of  George  III  from  1760  to  1820  offers 
so  many  subjects  for  discussion,  political  and  social, 
that  it  is  better  for  our  purpose  to  think  of  this  period 
only  in  terms  of  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  to  associate  our  mental  pictures  of  the  last 
two  decades  of  the  court  at  Versailles  under  Louis  XV, 
and  the  same  court  in  its  changed  aspect  with  Marie 
Antoinette  as  fashion's  dictator  to  the  ever-changing 
modes  of  England,  whose  muddle  of  fashions  and  ex- 
tremes of  style  were  splendid  evidence  of  the  rapidity 
260 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

with  which  ideas  were  adopted,  matured,  and  dropped, 
as  the  individualism  of  the  nation  dictated. 

Mrs.  Piozzi  in  her  "Observations  in  a  Journey 
through  Italy,"  written  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  cen- 
tury, seems  to  sense  the  true  Italian  qualities  and  to 
compare  them  successfully  with  English  standards,  and 
this  comparison  shows  us  the  Italians  and  the  English 
of  the  time  from  another  point  of  view.  She  writes 
of  the  people  of  Milan:  "The  mind  of  an  Italian, 
whether  man  or  woman,  seldom  fails  for  aught  I  see, 
to  make  up  in  extent  what  it  wants  in  cultivation,  and 
that  they  possess  the  art  of  pleasing  in  an  eminent  de- 
gree, the  constancy  with  which  they  are  mutually  be- 
loved by  each  other  is  the  best  proof.  Ladies  of 
distinction  bring  with  them  when  they  marry,  besides 
fortune,  as  many  clothes  as  will  last  for  seven  years; 
for  fashions  do  not  change  as  often  here  as  at  London 
or  Paris." 

She  speaks  of  the  devotion  of  children  to  their  par-) 
ents,  the  affectionate  care  of  masters  for  their  servants, 
and  the  respect  of  wives  for  their  husbands  that  in  Eng- 
land would  be  unknown.  She  tells  how  if  there  is  con- 
jugal difficulty  the  wife  is  always  protected  by  public 
sympathy,  that  even  a  mistress  will  not  admit  a  hus- 
band's right  to  ill-treat  his  wife,  and  ends  by  saying: 
"National  character  is  a  great  matter.  I  did  not  know 
there  had  been  such  a  difference  in  the  ways  of  thinking 
merely  from  customs  and  climate,  as  I  see  there  is, 
although  one  has  always  read  of  it."  Probably  no 
observer  has  been  much  in  these  two  countries  without 
having  inwardly,  if  not  verbally,  expressed  the  same 
sentiments,  and  marvelled  the  more. 

261 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

It  is  well  at  this  point  to  recall  the  close  association 
of  England  with  the  Colonies  at  the  beginning  of  this 
reign  and  their  political  and  commercial  differences 
culminating  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  quarter  of  the 
century.  This  second  quarter  of  the  century  saw  our 
strictest  copying  of  English  styles,  and  also  the  begin- 
ning of  the  decline,  with  the  introduction  of  a  strong 
French  tendency  followed  up  with  great  gusto  by  our 
aristocracy  immediately  after  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  lasting  for  some  time  unabated.  In  reality  this 
tendency  has  never  ceased,  it  has  only  fluctuated  from 
time  to  time,  again  appearing  until,  so  far  as  costumes 
are  concerned,  there  are  not,  and  have  not  been  for 
years,  any  other  real  criteria  but  the  French. 

In  the  diversity  of  every  detail  of  costume  from  1750 
on,  is  seen  a  record  of  the  growth  of  individual  thought 
as  it  struggled  for  supremacy  with  the  old  monarchic 
tradition  and  the  dictatorship  of  French  fashions.  At 
first  the  "exquisite,"  the  man  about  town,  the  gentleman, 
the  tradesman,  the  court  lady,  the  middle-class  woman, 
and  the  wench  of  the  orange-stand,  each  in  his  or  her  class 
vied  with  one  another  to  express  an  individual  concep- 
tion of  the  accepted  class  style  in  dress.  Later  in  the 
period  class  lines  were  broken  down,  and  we  find  an  inter- 
relation of  individual  dress  from  class  to  class  each  ex- 
ploiting a  "new  idea,"  and  then  an  even  greater  indi- 
viduality which  of  course  always  means  some  queer 
results  so  far  as  art  or  the  fitness  of  things  are  concerned. 

For  instance  the  "exquisite"  was  seen  in  his  frogged 
coat,  fringed  waistcoat,  striped  breeches,  and  a  polled 
and  powdered  wig,  the  man  about  town  in  knee- 
breeches,  skirted  coat,  silk  waistcoat  and  an  ordinary 
262 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

wig,  while  other  distinguishing  characteristics  marked 
the  class  position  of  the  individual.  After  the  individ- 
ual idea  reached  its  highest  development  came  the  reac- 
tion, about  1780,  toward  simpler  and  more  functional 
types,  and  finally,  after  1795,  more  formal  fashions 
appeared  which  resulted  in  the  Empire  style. 

This  period  was  indeed  evolutionary,  but  revolu- 
tionary as  well.  Take  for  instance  the  various  ways 
of  dressing  the  hair,  and  their  development  until  the 
apex  of  size,  assortment,  and  absurdity  was  reached  in 
1775,  after  which  came  its  reclamation  to  sanity  by 
1795,  a  matter  of  but  twenty  years.  We  find  prints 
of  ladies  seated  while  the  hair  dresser  climbed  upon  a 
ladder  to  reach  the  upper  stories  of  this  towering  mass 
of  hair,  and  the  innumerable  and  unmentionable  ac- 
cessories with  which  he  strove  to  create  a  new  and 
colossal  piece  of  head  architecture  which  would  be  more 
astonishing  than  any  other.  Documentary  evidence 
gives  him  a  record  of  perfect  success.  A  certain  writer 
says  of  the  fashions  in  hair  ornaments  one  year:  "Be 
it  remembered  that  in  this  year  many  ladies  of  fortune 
and  fashion,  willing  to  set  an  example  of  prudence  and 
economy  to  their  inferiors,  did  invent  and  make  public 
without  a  patent,  a  machine  for  the  head,  in  form  of  a 
post-chaise  and  horses,  and  another  imitating  a  chair 
and  chairmen,  which  were  frequently  worn  by  persons 
of  distinction.  .  .  . 

"Those  heads  which  are  not  able  to  bear  a  coach  and 
six  (for  vehicles  of  this  sort  are  very  apt  to  crack  the 
brain)  so  far  act  consistently  as  to  make  use  of  a  post- 
chariot,  or  a  single-horse  chaise  with  a  beau  perching 
in  the  middle.  .  .  .  The  vehicle  itself  was  con- 

£63 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

structed  of  gold  threads,  and  was  drawn  by  six  dapple 
grays  of  blown  glass,  with  a  coachman,  postilion,  and 
gentleman  within,  of  the  same  brittle  manufacture." 

Fancy  the  change  from  the  state  of  mind  which  pro- 
duced this,  to  that  which  accepted  ringlets,  or  any  of 
the  simple  fashions  of  the  Directoire.  The  difference 
in  attitude  toward  the  gown  was  as  remarkable;  the 
coat  in  male  attire  from  the  skirted  fantasies  of  the  mid- 
century  became  the  formal  tail-coat  of  1790,  through 
quick  but  effective  modifications  in  the  mental  attitude 
of  England.  The  nation  was  becoming  fatigued  with 
incessant  strivings  to  play  the  part  of  leading  lady  in  a 
foreign  drama  with  the  inevitable  result  of  proving 
to  be  either  a  clown  or  at  best  an  unsuccessful  under- 
study. The  reaction  in  the  early  nineteenth  century 
to  the  Empire  style,  and  consequent  return  to  her  own 
manner  of  thinking,  and  therefore  of  expressing  herself, 
during  the  rest  of  the  century  is  another  most  interest- 
ing  phenomenon  of  English  psychology. 

In  so  far  as  the  history  of  Colonial  costumes  is  con- 
cerned, we  make  no  attempt  at  completeness,  nor  even 
at  logical  sequence,  since  our  selections  for  these  are 
too  well  known  or  at  least  too  easily  accessible;  be- 
sides, that  is  not  our  object  even  if  space  to  do  so  were  a 
physical  possibility.  It  is  rather  to  suggest  points  of 
relationship  with  England  and  France,  and  to  visualize 
in  a  measure  the  psychology  of  our  expression  at  that 
epoch,  through  this,  finding  the  remoter  causes  of  our 
present  attitude  to  art,  and  to  the  general  period  ex- 
pressions of  the  maturer  national  lives  from  which  we 
have  sprung,  that  reference  is  made  to  Colonial  life. 

We  recall  that  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 
264 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

century  our  Colonial  life  was  shaped  by  three  quite 
different  types  of  people,  all  of  them,  however,  with 
certain  common  instincts  and  practices,  two  of  these 
having  many  things  in  common  and  the  third  showing 
similarity  in  most  ways  through  different  individual 
manifestations.  The  inherent  belief  in  individual 
right  to  justice  and  freedom  of  thought  and  expression 
was  a  common  inheritance,  as  indeed  were  the  domestic 
ideals  peculiarly  Anglo-Saxon,  or  perhaps  more  defi- 
nitely northwestern  European.  The  general  quality 
of  the  aesthetic  sense  was  somewhat  ordinary,  and 
religious  tolerance  was  an  avowed  reason  for  coming 
to  the  new  world.  Just  how  this  condition  was  ex- 
pressed in  practice,  how  their  ideals  gave  way  gradually 
under  the  pressure  of  wealth,  material  success,  and  the 
reassertion  of  fundamental  selfishness,  vanity,  and  other 
elemental  human  instincts,  is  but  another  demonstra- 
tion of  the  fallibility  of  man,  and  of  the  truth  that 
nothing  is  new  under  the  sun. 

The  southern  colonists  were  in  general,  aristocratic, 
the  younger  sons  of  English  peers,  the  not  too  success- 
ful relatives  of  wealthy  noblemen,  and  later  on,  a  smat- 
tering of  poor  debtors  and  other  less  desirable  members 
of  the  "gentlemen  class,"  with  a  few  of  the  upper  bour- 
geoisie. Their  politics  were  mainly  Tory,  their  re- 
ligions more  or  less  coloured  by  the  mental  attitude  of 
that  body  and  they  had  a  social  ideal  based  on  that  of 
the  country  gentleman  of  England.  This  type  natur- 
ally was  in  very  close  relation  with  the  ideals,  customs, 
and  practices  of  the  mother  country,  and  from  there 
came  not  only  fashions,  but  most  of  the  materials 
through  which  social  life  was  expressed,  either  in  the 

265 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

house  or  in  the  costumes  of  the  time.  This  condition 
was  made  the  more  necessary  and  persisted  the  longer 
because  of  the  development  of  social  plantation  life, 
and  the  non-development  of  the  manufacturing  idea. 
Besides  this,  communication  with  England  was  as 
^  easy  as  with  the  northern  Colonies  in  the  early  days. 

The  northern,  or  New  England  colonist,  was  made 
of  sterner  stuff.  He,  the  left  wing  of  English  life,  was 
a  radical  from  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  trade  classes 
mostly,  his  was  the  legacy  of  Puritanism.  Determined 
in  his  ideals  of  government,  simple  and  austere  in  his 
social  customs,  he  braved  the  rigours  of  climate  and  the 
isolation  of  the  new  world,  that  the  principles  of  in- 
dividualism, freedom,  modesty,  and  humility  might 
blossom  and  come  into  full  fruition  undisturbed. 
But  even  he,  we  find,  remembered  the  witches  not  too 
kindly,  saw  to  it  that  the  Baptist  brethren  found  a  road 
to  the  "Providence  Plantations"  with  some  alacrity, 
and  very  early  took  to  Mammon  in  various  ways,  so 
that  one's  belief  in  a  new  species  cf  mind  is,  after  all, 
almost  destroyed. 

Environment  at  first  prevented  copying  the  mother 
country  in  a  lavish  manner,  but  by  the  first  quarter  of 
the  eighteenth  century  the  Puritan  seems  to  have  begun 
to  serve  God  and  Mammon  with  as  loyal  a  devotion 
and  as  pronounced  a  success  as  his  ancestors  of  the 
eleventh,  fourteenth,  or  sixteenth  centuries. 

A  third  type  of  mind  is  found  in  the  Dutch  who  set- 
tled New  York  and  its  adjacent  country.  More  clan- 
nish than  either  of  the  other  two  types,  more  prac- 
tically inclined,  in  general  as  domestic  as  either,  with 
no  definite  cultural  ideas  and  with  but  the  rudiments  of 
266 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 
ENGLISH.  WHILE  IN  GENERAL  TERMS  THIS  WAS  NOT  OUT  OF 
FASHION,  IT  IS  SIMPLY,  CONSISTENTLY,  AND  BECOMINGLY  ADAPTED 
TO  THE  PERSONALITY  OF  THE  WEARER. 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 
COLONIAL.  ONLY  A  REFLECTION  OF  ENGLISH  FASHION  OF  THIS 
PERIOD  IN  MATERIAL,  CUT,  AND  MANNER. 


MIDDLE  OF  THE  LAST  QUARTER  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 
ENGLISH.  THIS  LOVELY  DUCHESS  COULD  ADOPT  AND  EXPRESS 
THE  FASHIONS  OF  THE  COURT  AT  VERSAILLES  IN  A  MANNER  BE- 
FITTING A  GREAT  LADY  OF  ANOTHER  NATIONALITY,  AND  WITH 
PERSONAL  TASTE. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

an  aesthetic  sense,  he  was  either  a  good  trader  or  a 
natural  son  of  the  soil.  The  former  of  these  two  types 
was  the  only  one  whose  social  life  is  any  concern  of 
ours  here,  and  that  concern  is  to  remind  us  of  his  com- 
mercial activities  in  introducing  us  betimes  to  foreign 
products  and  inventions,  and  his  introduction  into 
our  general  consciousness  of  his  sturdy  and  "free  from 
dirt"  ideals. 

Of  the  late  influx  of  still  another  English  type  under 
William  Penn,  of  the  Swedes  in  Delaware,  the  Germans 
and  "Penn  Dutch,"  we  are  mindful,  but  none  of  them 
materially  influenced  the  general  social  life  of  the 
colonists  before  the  Revolution,  or  for  that  matter 
after  it. 

The  early  New  England  Puritan  has  been  greatly 
idealized  and  as  greatly  maligned.  True  he  was  seri- 
ous, perhaps  austere;  he  lived  close  to  nature  and 
thereby  got  hold  probably  of  some  of  the  fundamental 
things  of  life.  Essentially  he  was  English,  however; 
even  though  he  had  spent  some  years  in  Holland,  he 
was  elementally  of  the  same  fibre  as  before  this  sojourn 
for  his  primeval  instincts  and  native  predilections 
were  never  stifled.  The  whole  seventeenth  century 
in  England  was  very  closely  tied  up  with  material 
evolution,  or  retrogression,  as  one  looks  at  it.  Its  art 
was  a  record  of  its  history.  It  is  curious  how  closely 
allied  are  the  great  and  the  small  things  of  life,  and  the 
clothes  of  our  forbears  were  as  closely  related  to  their 
lives  as  were  those  of  England  at  the  same  time. 

We  do  not  find  that  less  interest  was  taken  in  ap- 
parel, less  care  was  given  to  personal  appearance,  nor 
that  fewer  attempts  were  made  to  outdo  one's  neigh- 

267 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

hour  during  the  early  seventeenth  century,  than  was 
the  case  in  other  places  and  at  other  times. 

Boston  and  Salem  ladies  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  however,  were  not  troubled  by 
yearly  changes  in  fashion  or  by  the  spasmodic  dictates 
of  court  or  commercial  life  as  to  vogue.  Such  things 
were  too  far  away.  They  were  just  nice  ladies,  with 
the  same  vanities  and  desires  as  other  ladies,  and  al- 
though in  1670  one  of  them  was  likely  to  appear  in  the 
silk  dress  and  fine  lace  of  her  grandmother,  she  wore 
it  evidently  in  the  same  spirit  and  with  the  same 
satisfaction  as  have  all  other  ladies,  only  she  cherished 
the  dress  and  other  finery  more  dearly,  and  saw  to  it 
that  it  was  still  good  enough  to  be  passed  down  accord- 
ing to  the  thrifty  custom.  This  is  peculiarly  enlight- 
ening as  to  our  Puritan  ancestors'  habits  of  thrift  as 
well  as  to  their  love  for  adornment. 

From  the  middle  of  the  century  on,  there  are  docu- 
ments in  great  numbers  recounting  the  extravagances 
(relatively  it  may  be)  of  the  wives  of  the  Governors 
and  other  great  folks.  Inventories  of  wardrobes  give 
article  by  article  the  English  made  garments  carefully 
brought  over  and  worn  with  as  much  satisfaction  and 
grace  as  at  home.  We  find  relatives  of  these  early 
colonists  searching  the  shops  in  London  for  finery  and 
not  infrequently  sending  these  same  things  with  par- 
tially worn  garments  of  their  own  "in  token  of  deep 
affection." 

Hoods  of  silk  and  spotted  gauze,  embroidered  and 
quilted  petticoats  in  various  colours,  green  silk  gowns 
and  many  ribbands,  violet  coloured  petticoats,  gold 
and  silver  ornaments  and  fine  laces,  silk  flowered 
263 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

Manto,  muffs,  a  blue  brocaded  gown  with  silver  trim- 
mings and  even  masks — which  we  find  prohibited  in 
Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  for  their  impropriety  as 
early  as  1650 — are  mentioned  over  and  over  again. 
Not  only  is  the  most  careful  record  of  this  finery  made, 
but  occasions  are  recorded  of  its  use  and  abuse  in 
abundance,  and  no  doubt  these  were  relatively  as 
good  reasons  for  the  Puritan  laws  against  "unseemly 
extravagance  and  indecent  display"  as  there  ever 
were  in  the  ups  and  downs  of  legislative  sumptuosity 
prohibition. 

Virginian  ladies- of  the  seventeenth  century  differed 
little  from  the  English  in  their  costumes  except  that, 
being  richer,  they  were  better  able  to  gratify  their  de- 
sire to  shine  and  outshine.  As  they  manufactured 
nothing  in  the  South,  all  their  finery  was  fresh  from 
England,  while  in  the  North  these  importations  were 
mixed  with  home  production.  A  Mrs.  Pritchard  in 
1660  owned  an  olive  coloured  silk  petticoat,  another  of 
silk  tabby,  and  one  of  flowered  tabby,  one  of  velvet 
and  one  of  white  striped  dimity.  Her  printed  calico 
gown  was  lined  with  blue  silk,  thus  proving  how  calico 
was  valued.  Other  articles  were  a  striped  dimity  jacket 
and  a  black  silk  waistcoat.  To  wear  with  these  gar- 
ments there  were  a  pair  of  scarlet  sleeves,  and  other 
sleeves  of  ruffled  holland.  Five  aprons  and  various 
neckwear  of  Flanders  lace  with  several  rich  handker- 
chiefs completed  a  gay  toilet,  to  which  a  pair  of  green 
stockings  gave  an  additional  touch  of  colour. 

A  certain  Mrs.  Willoughby  is  credited  with  petti- 
coats of  calico,  striped  linen,  India  silk,  worsted  prun- 
ella and  red  striped  linen;  red,  blue,  and  black  silk  skirts 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

were  used  with  scarlet  waistcoats  and  silver  sleeves,  a 
white  knit  waistcoat,  a  "pair  of  red  paragon  bodices" 
and  another  pair  of  sky  coloured  satin  bodices.  This 
lady  also  had  a  striped  stuff  jacket,  a  worsted  prunella 
mantle  and  a  black  gown  with  many  other  mantles, 
gowns,  jackets,  hoods,  and  aprons.  These  ladies  evi- 
dently were  not  unlike  others  in  the  pioneer  days  of 
Colonial  life,  and  like  their  humbler  and  outwardly 
more  Puritanic  sisters  of  the  North,  expressed  in  a  re- 
flected manner  as  nearly  as  possible  the  costumes  used 
in  the  social  life  of  England  in  which  they  or  their 
fathers  formerly  moved. 

The  third  type  of  early  settler,  the  Dutch,  left  little 
that  became  a  permanent  part  of  Colonial  costume, 
We  all  have  our  mental  picture  of  the  early  Dutch 
lady,  dressed  no  doubt  in  the  full  regalia  of  the  Holland 
vrouw  of  that  time,  with  plenty  of  bright  coloured 
petticoats,  a  silk  bodice,  a  silk  samare  perhaps  embroid- 
ered or  trimmed  with  coarse  lace,  extra  lace  or  lawn 
sleeves,  probably  white  stockings,  a  small  cap  and  a 
bright  coloured  kerchief.  Of  one  thing  we  may  be 
certain — that  all  this  was  scrupulously  clean,  and  that 
no  cloth  was  wasted  is  equally  certain,  also  that  it 
probably  never  wore  out.  No  thought  of  what  would 
come  next,  or  when  the  style  would  be  changed  dis- 
turbed the  calm  of  stolid  Dutch  life. 

Of  the  ordinary  Dutch  housewife  Washington  Irv- 
ing says:  "Their  hair  untortured  by  the  abominations 
of  art,  was  scrupulously  pomatumed  back  from  their 
foreheads  with  a  candle,  and  covered  with  a  little  cap 
of  quilted  calico  which  fitted  exactly  to  their  heads. 
Their  petticoats  of  linsey  woolsey  were  striped  with  a 
270 


ENGLISH.  AT  THE  HEIGHT  OF  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XVI  IN 
FRANCE.  A  DECOROUS  PERSONAL  INTERPRETATION  OF  A  FOIt- 
EIGN  FASHION  IN  FOREIGN  MATERIAL  ON  A  MODERN  WOMAN. 


ANOTHER    INTERPRETATION    OF    THE     STYLE     OF    LOUIS    XVI,     WITH 
STRICTLY   ENGLISH    CHARACTERISTICS. 


ABOUT  1778.  ENGLISH-AMERICAN.  AN  ENGLISH  LADY,  DONE 
BY  AN  AMERICAN  PAINTER,  IN  THE  COSTUME  OF  A  SULTANA,  A 
FASHION  PREVAILING  IN  ENGLAND  DURING  THIS  EPOCH. 


ABOUT  1780.  ENGLISH.  THE  REFLECTION  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVO- 
LUTION IN  ENGLAND  BROUGHT  OUT  MANY  DELIGHTFULLY  SIMPLE 
AND  THOROUGHLY  PRACTICAL  FASHIONS  FOR  LADIES. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

variety  of  gorgeous  dyes,  though  I  must  confess  those 
gallant  garments  were  rather  short,  scarce  reaching 
below  the  knees;  but  then  they  made  up  in  the  number 
which  generally  equalled  that  of  the  gentlemen's  small 
clothes,  and  what  is  still  more  praiseworthy  they  were 
all  of  their  own  manufacture,  of  which  circumstance,  as 
may  well  be  supposed,  they  were  not  a  little  vain." 

Besides  pockets  they  wore  scissors  and  pincushions 
suspended  from  their  girdles  by  red  ribbons,  or  among 
the  more  opulent  and  showy  classes,  by  brass  and  even 
silver  chains.  Irving  speaks  of  the  great  pride  in 
ownership  of  huge  quantities  of  stockings  and  petticoats 
the  number  of  which  two  things  seems  to  have  denoted 
the  wealth  of  the  heiress,  as  dollars  do  now,  or  as  rein- 
deer skins  might  in  the  case  of  the  belles  of  Lapland. 

Comparing  New  England  and  Dutch  women  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a  Boston  lady  who 
visited  New  York  wrote  home:  "The  English  go  very 
fashionable  in  their  dress.  But  the  Dutch,  especially 
the  middle  sort,  differ  from  our  women,  in  their  habits 
go  loose,  wear  French  muches  which  are  like  a  capp  and 
head  band  in  one,  leaving  their  ears  bare  which  are 
set  out  with  jewels  of  a  large  size  and  many  in  number: 
and  their  fingers  hooped  with  rings,  some  with  large 
stones  in  them  of  many  Coullers,  as  were  their  pendants 
in  their  ears,  which  you  should  see  very  old  women 
wear  as  well  as  young." 

An  inventory  of  one  of  these  Dutch  Colonial  dames 
mentions : 

"One  petticoat  with  a  body  of  red  bay, 

"One  under  petticoat,  scarlet, 

"One  petticoat,  red  cloth  with  black  lace, 

271 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

"One  striped  stuff-petticoat, 
"2  coloured  druggit  petticoats  with  gray  linings, 
"2  coloured  druggit  petticoats  with  white  linings, 
"1  coloured  druggit  petticoat  with  pointed  lace, 
"1  ash  gray  silk  petticoat  with  silk  lining, 
"  1  black  silk  petticoat  with  ash  gray  lining, 
"  1  fotto-foo  silk  petticoat  with  black  silk  lining, 
"1  fotto-foo  silk  petticoat  with  taffeta  lining." 
Dozens  of  stockings  are  given  and  only  one  bodice, 
2  waistcoats,  5  caps,  3  night  gowns,  2  pairs  of  sleeves 
and  a  few  other  articles  in  proportion. 

Such  were  the  main  lines  of  our  inheritance  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  first  and 
second  of  these  types  will  concern  us  mainly  from  now 
on,  the  third  being  (except  in  isolated  cases)  of  no  great 
power  or  influence  in  forming  social  life  outside  of  a 
very  limited  area,  as  they  were  the  product,  for  the 
most  part  of  customs  with  imported  fashions  and  ma- 
terials with  which  to  express  them. 

Up  to  the  eighteenth  century  then,  we  may  almost 
say  there  was  no  distinct  Colonial  fashion  except  such 
as  grew  out  of  the  conditions  resulting  from  geographi- 
cal isolation,  undeveloped  resources,  lack  of  importing 
facilities  and  of  wealth  with  which  to  gratify  natural 
human  desires.  The  instinct  for  dress,  the  funda- 
mental desire  for  show  and  personal  attraction  were  no 
different;  the  determination  not  to  be  outshone  and  the 
admiration  for  the  latest  and  prettiest  fashions  from 
England  were  almost  universal,  and  even  where  there 
was  a  pretence  to  plain  living  and  an  outward  expres- 
sion of  piety  through  its  manifestation,  the  author  fails 
to  find  any  considerable  number  of  instances  of  indi- 
272 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

viduals  who  resisted  falling  into  the  ways  of  the  world 
at  the  first  perfectly  good  opportunity.  The  few  isola- 
ted instances  are  so  small  in  number  that  "the  ex- 
ception proves  the  rule." 

As  the  eighteenth  century  advanced  the  Colonies 
naturally  grew  in  wealth,  their  commerce  (particularly 
with  Britain)  increased,  and  the  awakening  of  a  na- 
tional consciousness  resulted.  Still,  however,  regard- 
ing with  respect  the  established  modes  of  the  mother 
country,  they  strove  in  every  way  to  obtain  through 
friends  who  were  still  in  England,  through  colonists 
who  visited  the  homeland,  and  through  imported  ideas 
in  the  shape  of  clothes,  to  imitate  the  fashions  in  a 
manner  becoming  their  new  ideal  of  national  capability. 
This  new  national  consciousness  furnished  a  stimulus 
to  common  desires,  and  costumes  waxed  exceeding  rich, 
varied,  and  showy. 

Some  rather  interesting  peculiar  customs  and  par- 
ticular types  of  dress  may  be  mentioned  at  this  point. 
The  queerest  of  these  customs  was  the  one  of  "Coming 
out  Bride."  In  New  England  and  in  the  other  prov- 
inces where  isolated  plantation  life  did  not  forbid,  it 
was  the  universal  custom  for  a  married  couple  to  appear 
the  first  Sunday  after  the  ceremony  (and  generally  the 
four  succeeding  Sundays)  at  church,  dressed  in  all  the 
bridal  finery  they  could  get  together.  This  of  course 
stimulated  a  rivalry  between  families  not  likely  to 
further  the  Puritan  aim  of  modesty  in  appearance. 
Those  who  could  afford  it  had  four  distinct  sets  of 
finery,  one  for  each  Sunday,  that  there  might  be  no 
monotony  for  those  who  formed  the  audience.  In 
many  communities  a  pew  was  set  apart  into  which  the 

273 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

bridal  pair  was  shown,  so  that  the  congregation  knew 
just  where  to  look  for  the  objects  of  interest,  thus  avoid- 
ing our  present  difficulty  of  trying  to  locate  the  individ- 
ual and  interesting  objects  of  dress  scattered  throughout 
a  large  congregation.  This  evidently  had  its  advantages. 
These  selected  seats  were  often  in  the  gallery,  some- 
times the  front  pews  of  the  centre  aisle,  and  at  times 
in  other  prominent  places.  The  couple  generally  ar- 
rived a  bit  late  that  the  observers  might  all  be  seated 
before  their  arrival;  then  they  walked  slowly  arm  in 
arm  to  the  assigned  seats,  while  the  entire  congregation 
gave  their  hushed  and  respectful  attention.  At  an 
appointed  time,  generally  just  before  the  sermon,  the 
couple  arose  and  turned  slowly  around  two  or  three 
times  that  every  angle  of  their  appearance  might  be 
properly  viewed;  they  then  sat  down  while  the  sermon 
proceeded.  For  efficiency  in  matters  of  personal  dis- 
play, and  for  isolating  religious  ceremonial  from  the 
weakness  of  the  flesh,  nothing  has  been  invented  to 
surpass  this.  The  Abbe  Robin  writing  at  this  time  ex- 
pressed a  belief  that  "  Piety  is  not  the  only  motive  which 
induces  American  women  to  be  constant  in  their  at- 
tendance at  church.  Having  no  places  of  public  amuse- 
ment, no  fashionable  promenades,  they  go  to  church  to 
display  their  fine  dress.  They  often  appear  there 
clothed  in  silks  and  covered  with  superb  ornaments." 
A  charitable  Abbe  this  one,  who  however,  had  not  lived 
through  the  first  quarter  of  the  twentieth  century  where 
there  is  no  lack  of  amusement  places  or  of  opportunity  to 
promenade,  since  the  streets  are  taken  over  frequently 
for  that  sole  purpose,  and  still  we  go  to  church  for  the 
same  reasons  as  of  old. 
274 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

Bridal  dresses  were  of  various  colours  and  stuffs,  as 
exquisite  as  one  could  procure,  we  are  told.  A  heavy 
silk  brocade  was  much  in  vogue,  white,  or  white  with  a 
brocade  pattern,  being  perhaps  most  in  demand.  Yel- 
low, blue,  and  pink  brocades  are  often  mentioned  with 
gold  and  silk  laces,  and  even  feathers  found  their  way 
into  these  costly  wedding  costumes.  Bridal  veils  seem 
to  have  been  unknown  until  the  end  of  the  century. 

About  1800  a  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  bride  is 
thus  described:  "Miss  Pell  was  married  last  week  to 
Robert  MacComb :  they  are  making  a  prodigious  dash. 
I  went  to  pay  the  bride's  visit  on  Friday;  they  had  an 
elegant  ball  and  supper  in  the  evening,  as  it  was  the  last 
day  of  seeing  Company :  seven  bride's  maids  and  seven 
bride's  men,  most  superb  dresses :  the  bride's  pearls  cost 
fifteen  hundred  dollars:  they  spend  the  winter  in 
Charleston."  Scores  of  documents  are  available  giv- 
ing the  trousseaux,  the  formalities  and  customs  of  these 
eighteenth  century  brides,  betraying  delightful  varia- 
tions of  the  common  charms  and  frailties  of  humanity 
and  giving  us  an  intimacy  with  one  of  the  pleasant 
manifestations  of  our  mid-colonial  life. 

The  universality  of  human  desire  for  symbolic  signs 
of  private  emotions  is  ever  astounding.  The  emotion 
of  grief  at  the  loss  of  relatives  and  friends  by  death  has 
found  in  dress  a  fertile  field  for  expressing  this  desire. 
Black,  death's  particular  emblem,  has  been  used  for 
this  purpose  certainly  since  the  early  part  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  Chaucer  and  Shakespeare  give  occa- 
sional allusions  to  its  use,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
the  widow,  although  whole  families  accepted  gratefully 
the  privilege  of  keeping  thus  in  touch  with  fashion. 

275 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Cut  or  style  was  called  upon  to  serve  this  purpose,  and 
at  various  times  the  bonnet,  the  veil,  the  gown,  and  the 
dressing  of  the  neck  and  the  hair  have  been  indications, 
as  indeed  have  the  materials  used  in  making  the  differ- 
ent articles  which  were  the  symbols. 

In  some  countries  white,  or  other  colours  than  black 
have  been  used,  but  in  England  and  America  black 
has  been  the  rule,  although  we  are  told  that  Henry  VIII 
wore  white  in  mourning  for  his  queen,  Anne  Boleyn, 
whom  he  beheaded.  One  chronicler  suggested,  however, 
that  "scarlet  would  have  been  more  suitable." 

This  field  of  emotions  seems  to  have  been  selected  in 
the  eighteenth  century  for  fashion's  particular  develop- 
ment, for  we  find  not  only  the  sorrowing  friends  robed 
in  black,  but  it  was  the  custom  to  surround  the  mirrors 
and  other  household  objects  with  black,  to  tie  together 
the  window  shutters  with  black  ribbon  which  was  left 
on  for  months,  and  in  England  we  read  of  black  bed- 
hangings,  and  actually  of  a  black  bed  which  was  loaned 
about  from  family  to  family  in  cases  of  deep  affliction. 
Carriages  were  often  draped  in  black  for  a  period  and 
the  harnesses  relieved  of  "shining  metal."  A  bereaved 
husband,  who  by  the  way  never  re-married,  ordered  not 
only  a  full  set  of  day  mourning  for  himself  but  "black 
taffety  night-cloathes,  with  black  night-capps  and  black 
Comb  and  Brush  and  two  black  Sweet-bags  and  slippers 
of  black  velvet." 

A  rather  dreary  picture  is  given  of  an  old  lady  in  black 
silk  "night-cloathes,"  sitting  up  in  a  black  draped  bed 
in  "solemn  grief,  yet  resigned"  while  the  members  of 
the  family  including  servants  and  friends  passed  slowly 
by  in  recognition  of  the  "untimely  end  "  of  her  husband. 
276 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

A  still  more  curious  custom  was  the  giving  away 
of  black  gloves  to  be  worn  no  doubt  "in  memoriam." 
When  Governor  Belcher  of  Boston  died  in  1736,  more 
than  one  thousand  pairs  were  distributed,  while  at  the 
funeral  of  Andrew  Faneuil  three  thousand  pairs  were 
given  away.  Even  lesser  personages  thought  nothing 
of  several  hundred. 

Nothing,  however,  seems  more  incongruous  and 
amazing  than  the  fashion  of  mourning  rings,  which  were 
often  of  great  cost.  At  one  Boston  funeral  more  than 
two  hundred  were  bestowed  upon  friends  with  such 
cheerful  mottoes  upon  them  as,  "Prepared  be  to  follow 
me,"  and  the  like.  All  kinds  of  mourning  jewellery  was 
fashionable,  particularly  such  as  exposed  a  design  made 
from  the  hair  of  the  departed  and  where  black  enamel 
could  also  be  used.  These  pieces  included  such  articles 
as  bracelets,  pins,  lockets,  rings,  and  even  earrings. 
Many  of  us  have  seen  these  objects  amongst  our  own 
family  heirlooms,  as  indeed  we  have  the  hair  wreaths 
on  the  parlour  walls. 

By  1770  national  consciousness  had  so  far  developed 
as  to  affect  considerably  the  copy  of  English  fashions. 
Funeral  gloves  were  stamped  with  the  design  of  the 
"Liberty  tree,"  and  other  such  designs  are  found  upon 
articles  of  dress,  and  in  the  handiwork  of  the  ladies 
who  kept  sufficiently  alive  in  "Sampler"  form  the  art 
illusions  of  the  epoch  of  Queen  Anne. 

Before  the  days  of  bi-monthly  fashion  magazines  and 
newspaper  fashion  plates,  created  for  reproduction 
by  bevies  of  "commercial-artist-dress-designers,"  a 
very  charming  way  of  spreading  style  was  in  vogue. 
France  probably  was  the  origin  of  this  attractive  cus- 

277 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

torn,  since  it  is  recorded  that,  charged  to  the  French 
crown  expenses  in  1391  was  a  certain  sum  for  a  dressed 
doll  sent  to  England's  queen.  In  the  late  fifteenth 
century  one  was  also  sent  to  the  queen  of  Henry  VII, 
and  others  later  to  Italy  and  to  Bavaria.  We  recall  that 
it  was  the  eighteenth  century  custom  at  Venice  to  ex- 
hibit a  collection  of  these  French  dolls  on  Ascension 
Day,  and  that  the  custom  brought  out  all  the  great 
ladies  and  their  cicisbei  to  enjoy  and  no  doubt  to  copy 
them.  This  custom  obtained  in  the  Colonies,  and  after 
the  Revolution  was  very  common,  extending  to  styles 
in  hair  dressing,  millinery,  and  the  various  arts  of  per- 
sonal adornment,  until  the  invention  of  the  pantine, 
a  figure  arranged  in  mechanical  sections  for  strange 
antics,  which  became  a  plaything  for  the  less  serious 
men  and  women  of  France.  This  device  also  found 
its  way  into  the  States,  along  with  the  deluge  of  French 
ideas,  immediately  after  the  Revolution. 

Having  just  passed  through  the  great  world  war, 
with  its  horrors,  its  contradictions,  and  its  irreconcil- 
able poverty,  privations,  and  depressions,  with  the  vast 
wealth,  extravagance,  and  wild  sense  enjoyments,  it 
is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  conditions  that  ob- 
tained here  during  the  period  of  our  Revolution  from 
1776  on.  Particular  mention  is  often  made  of  the  ef- 
fect on  costumes  brought  about  by  the  presence  of 
English  officers  and  their  wives,  and  of  the  alacrity 
with  which  our  belles  at  Philadelphia  and  Boston 
yielded  active  participation  in  the  balls  and  other 
festivities  prepared  by  the  English  army  officers,  and 
then  strove  to  dress  as  they  dictated  and  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  pleased  these  officers  most.  Naturally,  the  offi- 
278 


LATE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  COLONIAL.  IT  IS  INTERESTING  TO 
SEE  IN  THE  HAIR-DRESSING  THE  FASHION  OF  VERSAILLES,  IN  THE 
COSTUME  THAT  OF  ENGLAND  WITH  COLONIAL  TASTE,  BLENDED  AND 
INTERPRETED  BY  A  NATIVE  WHO  WAS  THE  WIFE  OF  THE  SPANISH 
CHARGE  D'AFFAIRES  IN  NEW  YORK. 


LAST    QUARTER    OF    THE    PHGHTEENTH    CENTURY.       ENGLISH.       THAT 
A  GREAT  PAINTER  DELIGHTED   TO  NAME  THIS  LOVELY  LITTLE  THING 

"SIMPLICITY"  is  ILLUMINATING  AS  TO  THE  THOUGHT  OF  THE  TIME. 


LATE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTUItY.  ENGLISH.  THE  INFLUENCE  OF 
THE  DIRECTOIRE  IN  FRANCE  STIMULATED  THE  INVENTION  OF 
MANY  SIMPLE  AND  INDIVIDUAL  DESIGNS,  PARTICULARLY  IN  ENG- 
LAND. 


AROUND     179.5.       ENGLISH.       THIS     SIMPLE,     PRACTICAL,    AND    ADAP- 
TABLE  COSTUME   SHOWS   THE   INFLUENCE   OF   THE   DIRECTOIRE. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

cers  of  the  American  army  were  not  so  well  pleased  at 
this,  but  no  period  is  ever  without  its  human  weaknesses 
and  the  English  uniform  was  more  powerful  than  the 
patriotic  idea  in  the  arena  of  amusement  or  of  fashion, 
and  vast  sums  were  spent  by  both  men  and  women  to 
delight  the  English  eye,  and  to  do  honour  to  visiting 
rank  and  personal  vanity,  while  the  masses  toiled  and 
starved. 

We  are  assured  that  New  York  belles  also  had  sev- 
eral years  of  opportunity,  "to  flirt  with  gallant  red- 
coats and  to  display  their  most  modish  gowns,  and 
that  several  important  marriages  were  the  result  of  the 
flirtations  and  the  gowns." 

A  Philadelphia  girl  who  came  to  New  York  for  a  visit 
in  1778  writes  of  social  life  there:  "You  have  no  idea  of 
the  life  of  continued  amusement  I  live  in.  I  can  scarce 
have  a  moment  to  myself.  I  have  stole  this  while 
everybody  is  retired  to  dress  for  dinner.  I  am  but  just 
come  from  under  Mr.  J.  Black's  hands,  and  most  ele- 
gantly dressed  am  I  for  a  ball  this  evening  at  Smith's, 
where  we  have  one  every  Thursday.  .  .  .  The 
dress  is  more  ridiculous  and  pretty  than  anything  I 
ever  saw — a  great  quantity  of  different  coloured 
feathers  on  the  head  at  a  time  beside  a  thousand  other 
things.  The  hair  dressed  very  high,  in  the  shape 
Miss  Vining's  was  the  night  we  returned  from  Smith's — 
the  Hat  we  found  in  your  Mother's  closet  would  be  of  a 
proper  size.  I  have  an  afternoon  cap  with  one  wing, 
tho'  I  assure  you  I  go  less  in  the  fashion  than  most  of 
the  ladies — not  being  dressed  without  a  hoop." 

Another  side  to  this  situation  is  found  in  the  presence 
hi  America  of  the  French  who  had  in  reality  become  our 

279 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

allies.  The  visit  of  Rochambeau,  for  instance,  and  his 
collection  of  handsome  Frenchmen,  is  said  to  have  kept 
Newport  in  a  round  of  gaiety  never  seen  before.  "  Amer- 
can  officers  and  other  gentry"  followed  the  customs  of 
the  English  and  the  French  and  a  strife  to  excel  both 
in  personal  adornment  was  developed  by  the  time  the 
inauguration  of  George  Washington  as  president  of  the 
United  States  took  place.  In  this  effort  they  were  not 
excelled  even  in  England,  and  they  strove  also  to  emu- 
late in-so-far  as  was  possible  the  court  at  Versailles. 

When  the  little  necessities  of  life,  such  as  pins  for 
instance,  were  unobtainable,  we  read  of  extravagant 
scarlet  cloaks,  feathered  top  knots  and  of  the  quantities 
of  gauze  of  the  fortunate  ones,  while  the  fancy  for 
being  painted  in  portrait  and  in  miniature  never  slack- 
ened for  those  who  followed  fashion's  dictates.  No 
doubt  the  individual  mind  will  supply  its  own  analo- 
gies between  conditions,  practices,  and  the  personal 
qualities  that  produced  these  conditions  during  the  great 
national  struggle,  and  the  incidents  and  general  state 
of  affairs  as  they  have  existed  in  the  years  from  1914 
to  1919  in  the  international  state  of  war  that  we  have 
just  seen.  The  only  great  difference  is  in  the  magni- 
tude of  the  operations,  and  the  limited  privations  en- 
dured in  America  as  compared  with  other  contesting 
countries.  The  general  instincts,  mind  qualities  and 
their  manifestations  are  so  similar,  as  to  make  us  won- 
der exactly  in  what  human  evolution  or  progress  consists. 

What  was  studied  copy  of  England's  fashions  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century,  hectic  adoption  of  both 
French  and  English  styles  during  the  period  of  1760 
to  1780,  became  a  full-flowered  self  assertive  original 
280 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

or  individual  exploitation  during  the  early  days  of 
our  national  life.  Conceding  this,  still  the  centre  of 
fashion  was  established  in  Paris  in  this  epoch,  from 
which  position  it  has  yet  to  be  dislodged,  although  for 
some  decades  the  conservative  style  for  men  has  been 
avowedly  of  English  origin. 

As  early  as  1784  John  Adams  was  sent  to  London 
as  our  first  ambassador  to  the  court  of  St.  James,  and 
his  wife  writes  him  at  that  time:  "I  am  not  a  little 
surprised  to  find  dress,  unless  on  public  occasions,  so 
little  regarded  here.  The  gentlemen  are  very  plainly 
dressed,  the  ladies  much  less  so  than  with  us.  'Tis 
true  you  must  put  a  hoop  on  and  have  your  hair 
dressed,  but  a  common  straw  hat,  no  cap,  with  only  a 
ribbon  on  the  crown  is  thought  sufficient  dress  to  go  into 
company.  I  have  seen  many  ladies  but  not  one  ele- 
gant one  since  I  came.  There  is  not  that  neatness  in 
their  appearance  which  you  see  in  our  ladies." 

Great  stress  was  laid  on  the  cleanliness  and  the  at- 
tention which  was  paid  to  details  of  dress,  by  all  for- 
eign visitors,  while  the  unheard  of  neatness  of  American 
women  was  the  subject  of  much  discussion  abroad. 
Evidently  some  strictly  American  characteristics  devel- 
oped among  us  early,  as  vouched  for  by  a  Hessian 
officer  who  says:  "The  daughters  keep  up  their  stylish 
dressing  because  the  mothers  desire  it.  Should  the 
mother  die,  her  last  words  are  to  the  effect  that  the 
daughter  must  retain  control  of  the  father's  money- 
bags. Nearly  all  articles  necessary  for  the  adornment 
of  the  female  sex  are  at  present  either  very  scarce  or 
dear,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  now  wearing  their 
Sunday  finery." 

281 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

Benjamin  Franklin,  plain  of  manner  and  stupendous 
in  mind,  turned  his  energies  toward  abating  this  Ameri- 
can fury  for  display  in  costumes.  He  bade  his  own 
daughter  give  up  feathers,  and  wear  calico  instead  of 
silk.  He  advised  Washington  (who  was  inordinately 
fond  of  fine  clothes)  to  be  less  extravagant  and  to  use 
domestic  materials.  Count  Rochambeau  declared  that 
"the  wives  of  American  merchants  and  bankers  were 
clad  to  the  top  of  French  fashions."  Another  critic  de- 
plores the  spectacle  of  the  women  of  a  Republic  sacri- 
ficing so  much  to  trifles.  He  says:  "At  Mr.  Griffin's 
house,  at  dinner,  I  saw  seven  or  eight  women,  all  dressed 
in  great  hats,  plumes,  etc.  It  was  with  pain  that  I  re- 
marked much  of  pretension  in  some  of  these  women; 
one  acted  the  giddy,  vivacious;  another  the  woman  of 
sentiment.  This  last  had  many  pruderies  and  grim- 
aces. Two  among  them  had  their  bosoms  very  naked. 
I  was  scandalized  at  this  indecency  among  republicans." 

Of  the  richness  of  materials  much  is  told.  Brocades 
were  in  great  demand,  heavy,  stiff  and  strong  in  colour; 
one  is  described  as  being  of  pink  ground-work  with 
scarlet  roses,  green  leaves,  and  brown  stems;  another  as 
purple  with  gold  and  green  brocaded  flowers.  Col- 
oured shoes  were  worn,  green  and  purple  being  most 
often  mentioned.  In  sooth  no  expression  of  eighteenth 
century  social  life  was  more  manifestly  a  record  of  the 
social  vanities,  frivolities,  and  light-headed  fripperies 
of  human  nature  than  was  ours,  the  only  noticeabJe 
difference  between  us  and  others  being  that  we  were 
yet  young,  less  experienced  than  our  older  neighbours 
across  the  seas,  and  not  able  as  yet  to  get  in  every 
instance  quite  the  range  of  materials  for  exploiting 
282 


ENGLISH,  AROUND  1790.  THE  "MALE  STYLE       FOR  WOMEN  WHEN 

THUS  INTERPRETED  AND  WORN  BROOKS  NO  CRITICISM. 


EARLY  NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  ENGLISH.  THE  EMPIRE  STYLE 
OF  FRANCE  IS  HERE  GIVEN  A  BIT  OF  ENGLISH  CONSERVATISM  THAT 
ADDS  NOT  ONLY  A  NATIONAL  FLAVOR,  BUT  A  PRACTICAL  SUGGES- 
TION. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY:  ENGLAND  AND  U.  S. 

ourselves  that  was  theirs.  So  far  as  ideals,  inclinations, 
impulses,  and  performances  are  concerned,  we  seem  to 
have  measured  to  our  new  possibilities  in  our  readiness 
to  become  fashion's  followers  and  in  our  love  of  per- 
sonal display.  This  has  been  brought  to  a  point  which 
is  quite  appalling  to  those  of  us  who  were  born  and  edu- 
cated with  the  point  of  view  we  imagined  was  that  of 
our  Puritan  ancestors,  our  Quaker  cousins  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  perhaps  even  our  more  highly  placed  rela- 
tives of  the  Southern  land. 


283 


CHAPTER  SEVEN 

CHARACTERISTIC     NINETEENTH     CEN- 
TURY STYLES 


THE  last  act  of  the  stupendous  drama  of  eighteenth 
century  French  life  began  in  the  late  autumn  of  1795 
with  the  installation  of  the  Directoire.  This  final 
act  was,  however,  played  in  several  scenes,  the  last  of 
which  culminated  with  the  overthrow  of  the  empire  in 
1814.  The  period,  therefore,  may  be  said  to  be  the 
first  of  the  nineteenth  century  French  styles,  and 
because  of  its  tremendous  influence,  the  most  important 
of  all  nineteenth  century  styles  in  Europe  or  elsewhere. 
This  interesting  and  highly  personal  reaction  centred 
around  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  a  man  small  of  stature 
but  mighty  of  will  and  possessed  of  colossal  nerve.  To 
comprehend  the  scope  of  the  style,  the  sources  of  its 
motifs,  the  rapidity  of  its  crystallization,  the  universal- 
ity of  its  adoption,  and  the  individuality  of  its  mani- 
festations, one  must  picture  vividly  not  only  the 
personal  character  of  Napoleon  and  his  family,  but  his 
activities  in  Italy  and  Egypt,  his  campaigns  in  eastern 
and  central  Europe  and  the  close  feeling  of  friendship 
existing  at  that  time  between  the  newly  born  United 
States  of  America  and  the  French  government.  Let 
us  recall  in  the  briefest  possible  manner  a  few  of  these 
correlative  facts. 
284 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

From  March,  1796,  to  December,  1797,  Napoleon  was 
engaged  in  imposing  his  will  upon  northern  Italy, 
Venice  surrendering  in  1797.  On  his  return  to  Paris  he 
was  given  one  of  the  most  remarkable  demonstrations 
in  history.  The  Directors  arrayed  as  Roman  sen- 
ators, with  ambassadors,  ministers,  state  officials,  and 
a  multitude  of  people  with  cannon,  trumpets,  and  a 
great  noise,  proclaimed,  "Bonaparte  forever!"  In 
1799  Rome  was  taken  by  the  French  and  the  aged 
Pope  Pius  VI,  ordered  to  Paris,  died  en  route.  In  1798 
Napoleon  started  for  Egypt.  Malta  delivered  its 
keys  to  the  Congress  on  the  second  of  July,  and  Alex- 
andria fell  the  same  day.  On  the  twenty-fifth  he  entered 
Cairo,  the  city  of  the  Pharoahs  and  the  Pyramids. 

On  November  the  ninth,  1799,  this  conqueror  of 
Italy,  Egypt,  and  Syria  arrived  for  the  second  time  in 
Paris,  on  this  occasion  affecting  great  personal  humil- 
ity. Very  soon  after  this  the  Directoire  was  over- 
thrown and  the  Consulate  established,  Napoleon  being 
elected  the  First  Consul  on  December  the  twenty- 
fourth,  1799,  with  almost  absolute  powers.  On  the 
nineteenth  of  February,  1800,  the  Consul  took  up 
quarters  in  the  Tuilleries,  and  on  the  same  day  he 
married  his  sister  Caroline  to  an  innkeeper  named 
Murat.  This  pair  subsequently  became  King  and 
Queen  of  Naples,  their  presence  there  assisting  in  the 
spread  of  the  Empire  style. 

The  same  year  Napoleon  went  for  the  second  time 
into  Italy  and  by  1802  his  conquest  was  complete. 
The  Italians,  for  centuries  oppressed  by  Spain  and 
Austria,  welcomed  him  as  a  deliverer,  and  in  many 
ways  he  was  one,  for  despite  the  complete  subjection 

285 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

of  the  wills  of  the  people  to  his  own,  the  methods  of 
subjection,  often  inhuman,  the  scandalous  and  per- 
fidious looting  of  public  and  private  treasures  of  all 
sorts,  he  opened  the  eyes  of  Italy  to  a  new  and  more 
virile  order  and  aroused  in  them  activities  that  by  the 
third  quarter  of  the  century  led  to  their  complete 
independence  and  unification  as  a  state. 

Napoleon  was  crowned  Emperor  of  France  the 
eighteenth  of  May,  1804,  and  the  history  of  the  next 
ten  years  shows  the  crystallization  of  a  style  im- 
perialistic, formal,  mixed  and  varied  in  motifs,  yet 
withal  limited,  often  cold  and  clumsy,  with  here  and 
there  traces  of  charm  and  even  chic,  when  interpreted 
for  less  imperial  persons  than  the  family  of  the  Em- 
peror. In  certain  members  of  his  family  we  have  a 
particular  interest.  His  sister  Caroline  we  have  al- 
ready mentioned;  Joseph,  his  brother,  afterward  be- 
came King  of  Spain,  while  Eliza,  finally  married  to 
Prince  Bacciocchi,  ruled  Lucca  and  afterward  Florence, 
and  the  lovely  Pauline,  wife  of  Prince  Borghese  of 
Rome,  did  perhaps  more  than  any  of  the  others  to  make 
the  Empire  style  popular  in  Italy  and  to  incite  Italian 
inventiveness  to  exercise  itself  broadly  in  this  new 
manner. 

Quantities  of  material,  however,  are  to  be  found  in 
and  around  Naples,  Lucca,  Florence,  and  of  course,  all 
through  northern  Italy,  where  complete  surrender  to 
the  will  of  Napoleon  made  his  word  law  and  his  choice 
in  style  theirs.  We  recall,  too,  that  after  the  exile  of 
Napoleon  the  ex-Empress  Louise  found  permanent 
asylum  at  Parma,  where  the  same  style  was  further 
developed  for  several  years.  Hence  it  is  that  this 
286 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

style,  French  it  is  true,  was  undoubtedly  worked  out 
in  greater  detail  and  certainly  in  a  more  fascinating 
(because  less  grandiose)  manner,  in  Italy.  The  in- 
vestigation and  exploitation  of  this  manner  and  also 
that  of  the  earlier  styles  of  Louis  Quinze  and  Louis 
Seize  are  as  yet  in  their  inception. 

The  association  of  France  with  the  United  States  of 
America  in  the  fitful  days  of  1776  and  after,  the 
influence  of  Lafayette  and  his  countrymen  on  the  im- 
pressionable mind  of  the  new  republic,  with  the  adop- 
tion of  the  earlier  French  customs  and  styles  during  the 
presidency  of  Washington  and  his  two  successors,  ex- 
plains the  readiness  of  the  so-called  Colonial  style,  or 
more  specifically  the  Georgian  Colonial,  to  give  way  be- 
fore the  popularity  of  the  Empire  as  France  again 
assumed,  for  the  moment  at  least,  the  supreme  dictator- 
ship of  Christendom. 

The  admiration  of  Napoleon  for  imperial  Rome,  the 
headlong  enthusiasm  of  the  French  to  do  his  bidding,  the 
interest  he  excited  in  Egyptian  art,  the  already  per- 
functory classic  wave  of  the  Directoire  and  the  passion 
for  mahogany  as  well  as  Directoire  costumes,  furnished 
the  inspiration  for  the  fashions  in  this  new  style.  The 
bourgeois  taste  of  the  imperial  family,  the  extravagant 
and  profligate  squandering  of  money  and  the  necessity 
for  immediate  and  proper  settings  for  this  last  act  of  the 
great  drama,  in  part,  at  least,  explain  the  amount  and 
variety  of  the  results,  as  well  as  the  bad  taste  of  much 
of  it.  The  artistic  sense  of  many  of  the  artist  crafts- 
men, the  remoteness  of  outlying  provinces  from  Paris, 
and  the  inheritance  of  the  people,  fully  account  for 
whatever  charm  there  is  in  it. 

287 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

The  spirit,  or  atmosphere  of  this  period  is  most  com- 
plex; its  mixture  of  refinement  and  grossness,  its 
autocratic  dictatorship  and  its  individual  assertiveness, 
of  hectic  intrigue  and  childish  naivete,  of  dissolute 
abandon  and  moral  pretence  struggling  with  countless 
traditions  of  the  monarchic  regime,  the  new  freedom 
and  the  absolutism  of  a  new  order  of  humble  foreign 
provincial  origin,  unacquainted  with  power,  position  or 
the  ordinary  amenities  of  life  as  viewed  by  the  most 
insignificant  members  of  old  social  France;  such  was 
the  melee  of  influences,  traditions,  and  aspirations  out 
of  which  the  new  order  was  to  grow. 

Of  Napoleon's  life  and  qualities  we  need  not  speak. 
There  is  no  one  without  his  own  particular  mental 
image  of  the  man,  determined  by  the  angle  of  vision 
from  which  he  has  made  his  acquaintance,  or  by  the 
prejudices  of  religious,  political,  or  social  tradition. 

With  the  practical  qualities  of  common  sense  and 
unchangeable  determination,  an  ideal  of  comfortable, 
respectable,  and  clannish  domestic  life  and  an  ambition 
for  the  family  that  knew  no  limit,  Mme.  Letizia  Bona- 
parte, the  mother  of  Napoleon,  exercised  no  little 
power  in  determining  the  course  of  events  in  the  social 
world.  To  originate  customs  or  to  invent  styles  was 
not  for  her,  but  the  influence  she  always  held  over  every 
member  of  her  family,  not  excepting  Napoleon  himself, 
the  carefully  planned  family  marriage  relations  and  her 
own  determined  conservatism,  undoubtedly  made  her 
life  a  contributing  factor  on  the  side  of  decency  and 
restraint  in  court  life. 

Napoleon's  marriage  in  1796  to  the  thirty-four 
year  old  widow,  Josephine  Beauharnais,  with  two 
288 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

nearly  grown-up  children,  was  almost  too  much  for 
Madame  Letizia  to  bear.  To  him  the  entire  family 
looked  for  money  with  which  to  be  comfortable,  for 
such  social  preferment  as  would  make  it  possible  for 
the  remaining  members  to  marry  outside  the  innkeeper 
and  soapboiler  class,  and  for  such  military  connections 
as  would  ensure  respectable  positions  to  as  many  of  the 
relations  as  were  yet  unprovided  for.  Besides  this, 
Josephine  was  a  semi-aristocrat,  a  relic  of  the  old  re- 
gime of  balls,  fetes,  and  flirtations;  with  easy  morals, 
not  spotless  of  reputation,  extravagant,  having  ex- 
pensive tastes,  elegant,  polished,  and,  moreover,  prac- 
tised in  all  the  arts  of  social  deception.  Such  was  the 
picture  painted  by  Madame  Letizia,  and  her  con- 
clusions were  thoroughly  impressed  upon  each  member 
of  the  family,  before  they  had  ever  even  seen  the 
contestant  for  the  honour  which  belonged  alone,  in 
Letizia's  opinion,  to  the  little  Corsican  group.  The 
intense  hatred  thus  begun  lasted  with  Madame  Bona- 
parte, except  at  intervals,  until  the  despised  intruder 
was  divorced  by  the  Emperor  in  1810  to  make  room 
for  Maria  Louisa,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  of  the  most 
ancient  house  in  Europe,  that  he  might  through  this 
union  fittingly  perpetuate  his  race  and  throne  in  a  son 
and  heir. 

In  considering  the  establishment  of  the  empire  the 
influence  both  of  Josephine  and  the  Austrian  must  be 
reckoned  with,  particularly  as  it  relates  to  costume, 
since  each  strove  to  express  a  type  of  royal  taste  quite 
unlike  the  other  and  still  more  unlike  that  of  Madame 
Bonaparte  or  her  newly  promoted  queen,  princess  and 
duchess  daughters.  Besides  all  this,  there  was  the 

£89 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

taste  of  the  recently  elevated  military  social  group  seek- 
ing to  express  to  the  world  in  no  uncertain  terms  both 
their  new  importance  and  their  joy  in  its  possession, 
without  delay.  Remnants  of  the  old  taste,  too,  lingered 
in  various  ways  and  must  be  expressed  even  if  it  had  to 
be  in  entirely  new  forms  and  under  dictated  conditions. 

While  the  Tuileries  and  Saint  Cloud  were  the 
centres  of  fashion  for  the  court,  Napoleon  was  no  less 
active  at  Versailles,  Fontainebleau,  Compiegne,  and 
other  centres  where  the  new  royal  taste  was  imposed 
upon  the  old  order  in  such  manner  as  to  make  the 
decorative  mantle  appear  to  be  the  entire  structural 
body,  hence  the  peculiar  spectacle  sometimes  found  in 
palaces  and  public  buildings  redecorated  during  this 
epoch. 

The  extraordinary  ego  of  Napoleon  was  best  gratified 
by  a  gorgeous  and  splendid  display.  He  left  no  device 
untried  to  develop,  overnight,  a  proper  sumptuous 
magnificence  with  which  to  surround  his  royal  person 
and  those  of  his  favourites.  He  wished  his  entourage 
to  be  pompous  and  splendid  and  extended  his  orders 
even  to  the  dictation  of  the  costumes  of  the  ladies  of 
his  court.  To  Madame  la  Marechale  he  once  said: 
"Your  cloak  is  superb;  I  have  seen  it  a  good  many 
times."  She  was  duly  flattered,  we  are  told,  but  took 
the  hint.  In  fact,  brief  as  it  was,  the  court  of  Napoleon 
was  the  most  gorgeously  sumptuous  and  profligately 
extravagant  of  any  of  the  long  list  of  theatrical  settings 
for  the  great  monarchs  of  France.  Empress  Josephine 
led  the  court  in  taste  and  in  the  splendour  of  her 
apparel.  The  following  is  a  translation  of  a  description 
of  one  of  her  robes: 
290 


A  QUAINT  AND  FASCINATING  DIRECTOIRE  CREATION  OF  THE  LAST 
DAYS  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY,  WITH  SOME  SUGGESTIONS 
IN  DETAILS  THAT  PERSISTED  THROUGH  THE  EMPIRE. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  EMPIRE,  THE  QUALITY  OF  ITS  SETTING  AND  THE 
FASHIONABLE  "WHITE  ROBE*'  WITH  OTHER  ROYAL  TRAPPINGS 
APPEAR  IN  THIS  PORTRAIT  OF  MME.  L^ETITIA  BONAPABTE,  THE 
MOTHER  OF  THE  EMPEROR. 


THE  QUEEN  OF  NAPLES  NO  DOUBT  DICTATED  THE  FASHIONS  FOR 
HER  COURT  BOTH  IN  SETTING  AND  IN  COSTUME.  ATTENTION  IS 
DIRECTED  TO  THE  QUAINT  CHARM  OF  THE  CHILDREN  AND  THE  KIND 
OF  SHOES  WORN  BY  THE  QUEEN. 


THE  INDIVIDUALITY  OF  THE  PRINCESS  PAULINE  AND  THE  REMARK- 
ABLY EXPRESSED  HARMONY  BETWEEN  HER  TYPE  AND  THE  QUALITY 
OF  HER  TOILET  IS  WELL  SHOWN. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

"The  toilette  of  the  Empress  was  admirable  in  its 
good  taste  and  freshness;  she  wore  a  gown  of  India 
muslin,  one  of  those  muslins  that  one  might  call  a 
tissue  of  air,  which,  however,  notwithstanding  the 
fineness  of  its  texture,  was  embroidered  with  a  design 
in  relief  of  a  sprinkling  of  small  stars,  the  centre  of 
which  was  filled  with  needle  point  lace.  The  gown  was 
high  necked  and  shaped  like  a  redingote;  all  around  it 
was  a  magnificent  piece  of  point  d'  Angleterre  two  hands 
wide  and  shirred  on  full;  this  was  also  on  the  neck  and 
the  front  of  the  gown;  at  regular  intervals  were  knots  of 
blue  satin  ribbon,  so  fresh,  of  so  pure  a  hue,  turquoise 
blue,  that  nothing  so  charming  was  ever  seen;  the 
underskirt  was  satin  of  the  same  blue  as  the  ribbons; 
on  her  head  the  Empress  wore  a  bonnet  the  trimming 
of  which  was  point  d'  Angleterre  of  the  same  design,  but 
finer  yet  than  that  on  the  gown,  and  it  was  gracefully 
posed  and  separated  by  tufts  of  blue  ribbon." 

Besides  assuming  control  of  the  toilet  of  the  court 
ladies  the  Emperor  dictated  a  costume  for  the  gentle- 
men. It  was  an  embroidered  coat  with  ruffles  and 
short  frills  in  point  d9  Angleterre.  Powder  was  omitted 
and  the  hair  cut  short,  similar  to  the  modern  fashion. 

Lady  Morgan  has  given  us  an  amusing  account  of  her 
call  on  the  Duchesse  de  Berri,  evidently  for  the  in- 
spection of  her  wardrobe.  She  says:  "At  last  after 
two  full  hours'  efforts,  and  more  suffering  from  heat 
and  apprehension  than  I  ever  endured,  we  passed  the 
last  barrier,  and  arrived  at  the  palladium  of  the  royal 
toilette.  A  long  suite  of  beautiful  rooms  were  thrown 
open,  whose  lofty  walls  were  thickly  covered  with 
robes  of  every  hue,  tint,  web  and  texture,  from  the 

291 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

imperial  drapery  of  coronation  splendour,  to  the  simple 
robe  de  chambre  of  British  lace  and  British  muslin; 
from  the  diamond  coronet  to  the  bonnet  de  nuii;  while 
platforms  or  counters,  surrounding  each  room,  were 
guarded  off  from  the  unhallowed  touch  of  plebeian 
curiosity  by  silken  cords,  and  placed  under  the  sur- 
veillance of  the  priests  and  priestesses  of  the  toilette, 
in  grand  pontificals.  These  formed  the  sanctuary  of 
all  the  minor  attributes  of  the  royal  wardrobe.  Every 
article  of  female  dress,  from  the  most  necessary  to  the 
most  superfluous,  was  here  arranged,  not  by  dozens 
but  by  hundreds.  Here  the  Queen  of  Sheba  might 
have  died  of  envy;  here  the  treasures  of  the  'forty 
thieves,'  or  the  'cave  of  Baba  Abdalla,'  were  rivalled 
or  surpassed,  not  only  in  splendour  but  extent." 

Soon  great  balls  and  receptions  came  again  into 
fashion,  official  in  character,  requiring  magnificent 
costumes.  This  soon  crystallized  the  rather  simple 
(by  comparison)  modes  of  the  period. 

Perhaps  the  most  noticeable  characteristic  of  wom- 
an's apparel  was  the  high  waist  line  established 
by  the  Directoire  and  persisting  through  the  Empire. 
The  waist  is  spoken  of  as  close  up  under  the  arms, 
"with  the  bosom  pushed  up  to  the  chin  by  ugly  stays 
only  becoming  to  ladies  perfectly  beautiful  in  the  first 
place." 

White  gowns  were  the  most  fashionable,  trans- 
parent ones  universal.  These  were  trimmed  with 
ribbons  and  wreaths  of  flowers.  The  arms  were  bare 
except  for  long  white  gloves.  Necklaces  of  pearls,  hair 
in  curls  and  roses  on  the  head  are  often  found  in  des- 
criptions of  the  costumes  of  the  day,  as  indeed  are 
292 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

cap-bonnets  trimmed  with  feathers  and  tied  under 
the  chin  with  silk  strings.  They  wore  velvet,  cloth  or 
merino  coats  with  short  waists  but  higher  necks,  for 
all  gowns  were  "indecently  low." 

The  fashion  of  wearing  false  fronts  was  generally 
adopted,  and  diamonds  were  the  chief  head  decoration, 
supplanting  flowers,  which  were  used  in  the  Directoire. 
It  was  in  this  period  that  artificial  flowers  became  a 
definite  and  important  accessory  of  the  feminine  toilet, 
a  fashion  which  has  persisted  in  various  aggravated 
forms  and  with  different  interpretations  to  this  day. 

About  1807  the  influence  of  the  classic  was  very 
powerful.  Mme.  de  Stael,  her  novel,  "Corinne,"  and 
other  influences  turned  the  thoughts  of  the  fair  sex  into 
a  different  channel,  possibly  for  variety  in  experience, 
until  it  became  the  fashion  not  only  to  assume  the  look 
of  having  been  born  again  into  a  classic  state  of  mind, 
in  a  classic  environment,  but  to  set  this  pose  in  flutter- 
ing scarfs  and  diaphanous  gowns.  This  influence  per- 
sisted throughout  the  period. 

One  very  important  and  almost  universal  innovation 
was  the  Cashmere  shawl.  A  few  of  them  had  been  sent 
from  the  the  Orient  to  Louis  XVI,  but  at  this  time  they 
came  in  enormous  numbers  and  found  such  favour  that 
the  foreseeing  French  secured  the  goats,  of  whose  hair 
the  cashmere  was  made,  and  distributed  them  through 
their  southern  provinces.  Very  soon  they  dared  the 
actual  manufacture  of  these  shawls  and  still  later  be- 
came eminently  successful  in  the  process.  There  have 
been  at  least  two  revivals  of  this  fashion  in  the  later 
nineteenth  century. 

This  important  style,  developed  under  Napoleon, 

293 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

subject  to  classic  influence,  was  no  doubt  neglected  in 
the  last  quarter  of  the  century  (during  the  period  of  our 
awakening  to  the  fact  that  we  had  an  aesthetic  sense) 
as  we  marvelled  at  and  tried  to  copy  and  to  use  the 
fashions  of  the  more  obvious  and  more  highly  orna- 
mental periods  that  preceded.  Since,  however,  it  was 
the  end  of  aesthetic  expression  for  a  century,  it  is  to 
our  quickened  sense  a  very  important  milestone, 
which  we  must  really  make  our  starting  point  if  we  are 
to  continue  now  the  art  ideals  of  the  classic  period,  the 
Renaissance  and  the  eighteenth  century.  These  are 
in  reality  the  rock-bottom  of  our  civilization  as  it  has 
been  expressed  up  to  this  time,  the  seventeenth  century 
of  materialism  having  been  repeated  in  another  form 
of  scientific  commercial  development  during  the  nine- 
teenth century.  This  recurrence  of  the  classic  spirit 
and  of  the  ideal  of  pure  materialism  (practically  un- 
modified by  aesthetic  appeal)  is  a  matter  of  his- 
tory, and  seems  to  point  to  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era,  which  is  the  most  encouraging  thing  in  sight  at 
present. 

The  restoration  of  the  monarchy  under  Louis  XVIII 
in  1814,  and  its  continuance  under  Charles  X  until 
1830,  may  be  taken  as  one  epoch,  with  England  under 
George  IV,  from  1820  to  1830,  considered  at  the  same 
time;  for  this  period  really  represents  the  first  epoch  of 
civilization's  return  to  seventeenth  century  material 
aims,  in  which  some  other  idea  than  culture  or  art  was 
to  function  for  a  century  or  more,  and  in  which  neither 
costumes  nor  the  other  arts  can  be  said  to  be  aestheti- 
cally expressed,  the  best  that  can  be  said  being  that 
they  are  sometimes  quaint  or  interesting  in  their 
£94 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

peculiarities.  Yet  they  are  always  a  sincere  record  of 
the  state  of  mind  of  the  public  at  the  time  they  were 
created. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period  the  allied  armies  were 
in  France,  and  one  historian  particularly  upbraids  the 
women  of  Paris  for  their  lack  of  loyalty,  accusing  them 
of  copying  most  of  the  details  of  their  dress  from  that  of 
the  Poles,  Germans,  Russians,  and  English. 

With  this  regime,  back  to  France  swarmed  the  noble 
ladies  who  had  fled  the  Revolution  and  the  wreckage 
of  the  Empire.  They  assisted  in  this  new  order  by 
repudiating  everything  in  fashion  that  smacked  in  the 
least  of  the  Directoire  or  of  the  Empire.  The  old 
order  thronged  the  Tuileries,  extravagance  was  rife 
and  the  intense  craving  for  dress  soon  established  in 
Paris  four  very  noted  ladies'  tailors,  thirteen  milliners 
in  large  establishments,  seven  large  florists,  three 
special  stay  makers,  eight  famous  dressmakers  and 
eight  fine  ladies'  shoemakers.  These  all  catered  to  the 
new  order,  thus  reviving  trade  and  stimulating  personal 
endeavour. 

The  dresses  of  this  epoch  were  made  in  many  styles  or 
cuts;  sleeves  were  sometimes  short,  ruffled  or  puffed 
and  sometimes  long,  shaped  like  a  funnel  with  the 
large  end  at  the  shoulder.  Some  necks  were  cut  low 
and  necklaces  were  worn,  others  were  cut  high  and 
trimmed  with  various  ornaments.  With  short  sleeves 
long  gloves  were  essentials.  Married  women  wore 
small  neckerchiefs  and  young  women,  white  apron 
dresses.  The  hair  was  usually  curled  and  artificial 
flowers  again  became  popular  as  decorations  for  the 
head.  Bonnets  were  generally  worn  pushed  over  the 

295 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

face,  toques  were  also  popular.  These  were  trimmed 
with  artificial  flowers  and  sometimes  with  white 
feathers.  White  was  worn  by  every  one  in  the  evening 
and  white  merino  with  silver  stripes  was  a  popular 
material.  White  shoes  were  a  la  mode.  We  are  not 
told,  however,  that  these  appeared  with  dark  or  black 
dress  skirts  and  coloured  stockings  in  muddy  streets 
as  is  our  custom  to-day. 

One  of  the  curious  things  was  the  Anglo -mania  of 
1816  and  1817.  An  amusing  cartoon  is  shown  of  a 
French  lady  trying  to  force  her  daughter  to  dress  in 
English  style,  while  the  girl  is  made  to  say :  "  Gracious ! 
how  frightful!  What  dreadful  taste!  To  think  of 
wearing  English  fashions!"  Nevertheless  the  fashion 
prevailed  and  we  find  the  ladies  in  English  straw  bon- 
nets with  green  gauze  veils.  They  wore  "spencers" 
also,  a  garment  that  looked  like  a  jacket  with  the  skirt 
cut  off  below  the  waist  line.  These  were  of  rep, 
velvet  or  satin,  in  any  and  every  colour.  Kerseymere 
coats  too,  were  worn,  with  double  collars.  There  were 
also  silk  wadded  gowns,  which  they  called  "douil- 
lettes." 

A  people  whose  taste  is  innate  cannot  lay  it  by  at 
will.  In  spite  of  the  disorganized  conditions  existing 
at  this  time,  we  conclude  from  the  documents  avail- 
able (and  they  are  many)  that  this  period  retained,  not- 
withstanding its  varieties  and  absurdities,  much  real 
charm,  and  gave  expression  very  often  to  a  rare  amount 
of  taste  as  compared  with  any  other  country  at  the 
same  time. 

Unfortunately  they  seem  to  have  had  two  besetting 
sins,  the  indulgence  of  which  brought  down  upon  the 
296 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

heads  of  the  guilty  the  wrath  of  the  just,  the  satire  of 
the  learned  and  the  ire  of  the  king,  Charles  X.  The 
first  was  the  use  and  abuse  of  "stays."  They  became 
so  important  that  large  sums  were  spent  in  procuring 
these  most  "effective  and  harmful"  adjuncts  to  a 
lady's  toilet.  Rousseau  wrote  that  the  limbs  should 
be  free  to  move  under  the  garments  that  covered  them, 
and  that  the  body  should  not  be  hampered  in  its 
natural  movements  by  such  trumpery.  He  was  laughed 
at,  they  say,  and  more  steel  busks  were  added  to  the 
stays.  A  celebrated  physician  is  quoted  as  having 
experimented  with  them  and  proved,  of  course,  that 
there  was  grave  danger  of  attracting  electricity  to  that 
part  of  the  body,  thus  causing  a  dangerous  irritation. 
Stays  grew  in  popularity  none  the  less.  Charles  X 
then  laid  siege  to  this  fashion,  declaring:  "Formerly 
it  was  not  uncommon  to  see  Dianas,  Venuses  or  Niobes 
in  France,  but  now  we  see  nothing  but  wasps."  Still 
there  was  no  falling  off  in  the  vogue  of  stays.  Fashions 
generally  come  to  stay  until  some  others  of  a  like 
character  come  to  displace  them.  So  far  it  has  not 
been  recorded  that  any  earthly  power,  or  even  the  edict 
of  holy  church  has  been  able  to  usurp  or  supplant  the 
power  of  fashion,  until  it  has  run  its  course. 

The  second  fashionable  sin  was  the  "mutton  leg" 
sleeve.  It  came  into  being  in  1820  and  in  a  short  time 
reached  such  a  size  that  a  woman  could  only  pass 
through  an  ordinary  door  sideways.  Every  article  of 
dress  was  subordinated  to  this  strange  creation,  and 
they  were  made  the  more  realistic  by  being  stuff ed 
with  down  and  held  in  place  by  wires,  so  that  they 
could  in  no  wise  be  overlooked. 

297 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

We  sometimes  think  that  we  hold  the  record  in  these 
days  for  absurd  colours,  but  we  find  in  1830  such 
colours  as  Ipsiboe,  Trocadero,  bronze,  smoke,  Nile- 
water,  solitary,  reed,  mignonette-seed,  amorous-toad, 
frightened-mouse,  spider-meditating-crime,  and  many 
others,  all  of  which  leads  us  to  modify  our  opinion  of 
our  supremacy  and  to  return  the  palm  to  France  even 
in  this  matter. 

There  was  a  queer  custom  of  naming  materials  and 
cuts  of  gowns  for  animals  or  plays.  For  example,  the 
giraffe  appeared  in  Paris  in  1827  for  the  first  time. 
Everybody  went  to  see  him  and  immediately  there 
appeared  gowns  a  la  giraffe,  bonnets  a  la  giraffe,  sashes 
a  la  giraffe;  and  there  was  a  new  material  called  "  Jocko's 
last  breath"  brought  out  at  once  after  the  death  of  a 
chimpanzee  of  that  name. 

The  bourgeoisie  showed  more  vanity  in  their  dress 
and  were  more  picturesque  than  their  more  fortunate 
sisters.  It  is  said  that  every  woman  in  business 
adopted  a  costume  expressing  her  particular  work  and 
station  in  life,  with  "exceeding  great  success,"  so  that 
the  lemonade  seller  was  as  great  a  creation  of  the 
costumier  and  hairdresser  as  was  any  illustrious  per- 
sonage. 

Individualism  in  France  and  the  rise  of  the  bour- 
geoisie to  positions  of  prominence  in  fashion  is  mildly 
expressed,  however,  when  compared  with  the  same 
period,  that  of  George  IV,  from  1820  to  1830,  in  Eng- 
land. Calthrop  says  of  this  period  in  England ;  "  Nowa- 
days to  be  dressed  well  is  not  always  to  be  well  dressed. 
Often  it  is  far  from  it.  The  question  of  modern  clothes 
is  one  of  great  perplexity.  It  seems  that  what  is  beauty 


RICHNESS  AND  THE  ITALIAN  INTERPRETATION  OF  NAPOLEON  S  COS- 
TUMES FOR  MEN  SEEM  WELL  EXEMPLIFIED  IN  THE  PORTRAIT  OF 
PRINCE  BORGHESE,  HIS  BROTHER-IN-LAW. 


ROYAL   AUSTRIAN   TASTE    IS   HERE    COUPLED    WITH    FRENCH    EMPIRE 
POSSIBILITIES  IN  THE  COSTUME  OF  EMPRESS  LOUISE. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

one  year  may  be  the  abomination  of  desolation  the 
next,  because  the  trick  of  that  beauty  has  become  com- 
mon property.  You  puff  your  hair  at  the  sides,  you 
are  in  the  true  sanctum  of  the  mode:  you  puff  your 
hair  at  the  sides,  you  are  forever  utterly  cast  out.  As 
we  have  no  understanding  I  shall  not  attempt  to  ex- 
plain it:  it  passes  beyond  the  realms  of  explanation 
into  the  pure  air  of  truth.  The  truth  is  simple.  Aristoc- 
racy being  no  longer  real,  but  only  a  cult,  one  is 
afraid  of  one's  servants.  Your  servant  puffs  her  hair  at 
the  sides,  and  hang  it!  She  becomes  exactly  like  an 
aristocrat." 

This  individual  triumph  of  the  proletariat  over  the 
aristocracy  is  worth  remembering  for  comparison  later. 

"The  dressy  person  and  the  person  who  is  well 
dressed,  these  two  are  showing  everywhere.  The  one  is  a 
screaming  hue  of  woad,  the  other  a  quiet  note  of  blue  dye : 
the  one  in  excessive  velvet  sleeves  that  he  cannot  manage, 
the  other  controlling  a  rich  amplitude  of  material  with 
perfect  grace.  Here  a  lirripipe  is  extravagantly  long; 
here  a  gold  circlet  decorates  curled  locks  with  match- 
less taste.  Everywhere  the  battle  between  taste  and 
gaudiness.  High  hennins,  steeples  of  millinery  stick  up 
out  of  the  crowd;  below  these  the  towers  of  powdered 
hair  bow  and  sway  as  the  fine  ladies  patter  along. 
What  a  rustle  and  a  bustle  of  silks  and  satins,  of 
flowered  tabbies,  rich  brocades,  cut  velvets,  superfine 
clothes,  woollens,  cloth  of  gold!" 

He  then  goes  on  to  describe  the  endless  individual 
ideas  representing  all  periods  gone  before  and  all  im- 
aginable new  ones  and  adaptations  of  the  old, — no  law 
no  order,  no  one  to  follow  etc.,  bad  taste  constantly 

299 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

developing  and  good  taste  being  crushed,  with  no  one 
to  object  or  to  dictate. 

This  points  clearly  to  the  complete  triumph  of  the 
individual  idea  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  to  the 
final  downfall  of  autocratic  royal  dictation  in  matters  of 
dress  as  in  matters  of  religion,  state,  or  public  morals. 
This  condition,  as  it  always  has,  released  the  imagina- 
tion, the  instinctive  desires,  and  the  creative  powers  of 
the  queer  and  the  undeveloped,  for  strivings  are  duly 
recorded  in  what  they  did,  hence  the  medley  of  costumes 
with  and  without  taste  as  well  as  with  and  without 
sense  or  reason,  the  first  mentioned  quality  often 
redeeming  and  making  a  delight  of  the  creations  of 
earlier  periods,  even  where  sense  and  reason  seemed  to 
be  entirely  missing. 

Fashion  seems  always  to  be  making  new  demands  on 
her  slaves  and  they  seem  ready  to  obey  her  mandates, 
no  matter  to  what  they  may  lead. 

The  "leg  of  mutton"  sleeve  furnished  the  chief 
novelty  to  be  exploited  in  the  days  of  Charles  X,  but  at 
the  time  of  the  accession  of  Louis  Philippe  in  1830  the 
rage  for  it  was  spent  and  other  details  or  adjuncts  of 
dress  were  seized  upon  in  order  to  tempt  the  female 
heart,  although  in  the  basic  essentials  of  dress  there  was 
little  change.  The  huge  bonnets  known  as  the  cabriolet 
gave  way  to  tiny  caps  called  by  fancy  names,  such  as 
Charlotte  Corday,  the  peasant,  the  nun,  the  Elizabeth, 
the  chatelaine,  etc.  The  nets  worn  were  a  la  Napol- 
itaine,  "steeplechase  rosettes"  below  the  ears,  Algerian 
head-dresses,  Armenian  toques,  and  white  and  gold 
Jewish  turbans  with  strings,  a  la  Rachel.  Many 
novelties  in  colour  appeared  also. 
300 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

Here,  too,  began  the  "anti-healthy"  fashion,  which 
reached  us  in  the  early  'sixties.  Suffering,  self  sacrifice, 
and  personal  devotion  were  the  favourite  topics  of  the 
day.  To  weep  was  adorable,  to  faint  commendable,  and 
to  look  wan  and  anaemic  ultra-fashionable.  Young 
girls  dreaded  nothing  like  healthy  rosy  cheeks.  "It 
was  so  common,"  they  said.  They  strove  by  every 
means  sentimentally  to  eliminate  the  material,  even  by 
starvation,  a  mawkish  imitation  of  mediaeval  idealism. 

These  were  the  days  of  Victor  Hugo  and  Lamartine. 
The  reading  of  Scott's  novels  and  Byron's  poems  were 
among  society's  favourite  pastimes.  The  romantic 
school  was  at  its  height  and  many  a  fashion  in  dress 
harked  back  to  mediaeval  sources.  The  rich  bour- 
geoisie wore  long  trains,  heavy  necklaces,  long  hanging 
sleeves,  alms-bags  dangling  from  their  waists  and  heavy 
carved  jewellery  They  moved  about  with  the  assured 
air  of  thirteenth  century  ladies. 

The  populace  was  enamoured  of  the  theatre.  They 
flocked  to  the  French  and  Italian  opera  houses,  the 
Opera  Comique,  the  Theatre  Frangais  and  the  others  of 
the  boulevards.  Here  they  found  the  sentimental  and 
romantic  heroines  who  gave  the  tone  to  fashion,  pro- 
viding something  new  and  thrilling.  These  women 
were  copied  regardless,  apparently,  of  their  suitability, 
for  a  historian  writes  of  a  beautiful,  sweet,  and  gentle 
girl  who  dressed  like  the  notorious  infanticide,  Norma, 
while  the  best  of  ladies  aped  the  style  of  the  arch- 
poisoner,  the  Marquise  de  Brinvilliers. 

Historic  characters,  from  Charlemagne  to  Mary 
Stuart,  and  from  Isabella  Gonzaga  to  Charlotte  Corday 
furnished  the  accepted  costume  for  balls,  fetes,  and 

301 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

grand  receptions.  The  Greek  and  Roman  styles  of  the 
earlier  days  were  replaced  by  those  of  the  Middle  Ages 
and  of  the  Renaissance. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  the  nobility  reacted  to 
the  influence  of  the  great  tragedian  Rachel,  whose  work 
in  reviving  such  classic  characters  as  Electra,  Hermione, 
Monima,  Roxana,  Paulina,  Agrippina,  and  Phaedra,  so 
fired  the  great  ladies  with  enthusiasm  that  they  sought 
to  imitate  not  only  the  actress  herself  but  her  idiosyn- 
crasies in  dress  and  those  of  as  many  of  her  characters 
as  time  would  permit.  This  classic  reaction  did  not 
touch  the  bourgeoisie,  however. 

The  whole  spirit  of  the  epoch  is  one  of  hectic  striving 
for  novelty  and  sensation,  changing  from  month  to 
month  and  even  from  day  to  day,  as  whim  or  fancy 
dictated.  This  universal  instability  gave  fashion  lati- 
tude to  do  her  worst,  preventing  the  crystallization  of 
any  mode  or  style  of  sufficient  merit,  or  definite  enough, 
to  be  classed  as  a  historic  period. 

Materials  new  and  varied  appeared  constantly,  as  did 
new  colours  and  new  fashions  in  design.  The  materials, 
legion  in  number,  were  called  by  such  names  as  Polar- 
star,  blossoming  camelia,  Palmyrienne,  Benvenuto 
Cellini  blue  velvet,  Medici  and  Louis  XV  satins,  tulle 
illusion,  Rachel  crepe,  a  tissue  called ./?/  de  la  Vierge,  and 
many  others.  This  field,  like  that  of  design,  seems  to 
have  been  exhausted  just  before  1850  and  we  read  of  a 
reaction  from  the  romantic  school  to  the  school  of 
"good  sense"  near  the  end  of  the  period.  To  us  this 
phase  of  the  period  is  not  clearly  enough  defined  in  its 
documentary  evidence  to  warrant  an  assured  belief  in 
its  existence. 
302 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

Perhaps  no  better  or  more  appropriate  time  will  come 
for  establishing  a  connection  in  our  minds  between 
these  unsettled  and  fluctuating  styles  of  mid-nineteenth 
century  France  and  those  of  England.  The  fashions  of 
the  period  of  George  IV  were  followed  by  no  changes  or 
additions  of  note  during  the  brief  reign  of  William  IV, 
1830  to  1837,  but  with  the  latter  date  we  associate  the 
beginning  of  that  long  and  dull  epoch  of  domestic 
tranquillity  and  phlegmatic  sentimentality  known  as 
the  "Victorian  Period,"  with  the  reflex  of  which  we  are 
so  familiar  in  our  own  land,  as  it  appeared  in  the  youth 
of  our  immediate  ancestors.  While  not  desiring  to 
treat  this  subject  in  its  entirety,  it  is  necessary  to  think 
of  it  in  its  relation  to  the  period  of  Louis  Philippe,  of 
the  short  second  Republic,  and  of  the  Restoration 
under  Napoleon  III,  1852  to  1870. 

By  comparing  the  past  and  the  present  it  appears  to 
us  that  the  Victorian  era  may  justly  be  classed  as  a 
period  of  unusually  dull  and  sentimental  materialism. 
It  was  moral  but  soggy.  Imagination  and  the  sense  of 
humour  were  suppressed  under  routine,  form,  a  heavy 
seriousness  and  a  rigorous  complacency.  People  and 
furniture  were  alike  completely,  properly,  and  similarly 
upholstered.  Carping  critics,  tiresome  moralists,  domes- 
tic philosophers,  and  shocked  and  fainting  women  were 
the  vogue.  Proportion,  where  any  was  left,  gave  place 
to  bulk  and  stability.  Decoration  was  lost  in  aggrega- 
tion. Brocades  and  taffetas  were  supplanted  by  hair- 
cloth and  plush,  lace  and  gauze  by  chenille  fringe  and 
hand  knit  tidies,  while  a  perfect  system  of  German 
housewifery  was  adopted,  assimilated,  and  expressed  in 
national  perfection.  Never  since  the  creation  of  man 

303 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

has  life  been  more  devoid  of  grace  and  never  was  taste 
at  a  lower  ebb. 

There  was  much  intellectual  activity,  however,  and 
domestic  economy  flourished,  as  their  record  in  litera- 
ture and  national  expression  proves,  though  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  total  annihilation  of  the  art  sense 
and  of  the  charm  that  is  born  of  the  social  graces.  So 
far  as  details  of  costume  are  concerned  during  this 
period,  at  court  they  were  in  "perfect  form"  and  in 
ordinary  life  they  were  "proper."  It  is  rather  to  call 
this  period  to  mind,  to  acknowledge  its  aims  and  its 
achievements,  and  to  see  anew  its  results  in  art  through  a 
knowledge  of  the  qualities  most  active,  and  of  those 
most  dominant  or  most  stifled,  that  it  is  correlated  here 
with  the  corresponding  styles  in  France  and  America. 
Having  done  this,  let  us  return  to  the  period  of  Louis 
Philippe  and  of  the  Second  Empire,  for  Paris  was  then, 
as  ever,  the  seat  of  fashion,  and  so  far  as  this  invincible 
goddess  wielded  conscious  power,  it  came  from  France. 
In  so  far  too,  as  the  art  quality  was  active  it  had  no 
other  asylum  than  in  the  minds  of  the  French,  who,  in 
spite  of  revolutions,  cataclysms  and  catastrophies  were 
never  entirely  without  it. 

It  was  in  1852  that  Napoleon  III  was  seated  on  the 
throne  and  the  second  Empire  began.  The  style, 
developed  from  this  date  io  1870  and  known  as  the 
Second  Empire  style,  is  the  last  of  the  monarchic  styles 
of  France  and  indeed  of  modern  life  so  far  as  our  civiliza- 
tion is  concerned.  The  marriage  of  the  Emperor  with 
the  Spaniard,  Eugenie,  resulted  in  the  establishment  at 
the  Tuileries  of  a  new  and  positive  dictation  of  customs 
and  of  fashions,  which  had  for  its  aim,  so  far  as  possible, 
304 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

to  organize  and  promote  another  court  life  akin  to  that 
of  the  First  Empire,  though  in  reality  its  ultimate  goal 
was  an  imitation  of  the  splendour  of  the  court  at 
Versailles  under  Louis  XIV.  The  first  years  were 
characterized  by  great  luxury  and  splendid  display,  the 
new  Empress  leading  the  movement,  and  the  wor- 
shippers of  monarchic  dictatorship  flocked  to  her 
standard,  undismayed  by  past  experiences  or  by  present 
ominous  tendencies. 

The  inauguration  again  of  a  strict  court  etiquette 
brought  with  it  a  prescribed  court  costume.  The  court 
train  and  the  court  mantle  may  be  mentioned  as  in- 
dicative of  this  reaction.  The  mantle  falling  from  the 
shoulders  to  the  floor  was  reserved  for  the  Empress  and 
a  few  court  ladies  whom  she  deigned  to  honour.  The 
court  train,  however,  was  more  general,  and  specialists  in 
dancing  were  employed  to  teach  the  great  ladies  how  to 
get  about  easily  in  this  regalia  without  tripping  or 
falling.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  bourgeoisie  copied 
this  fashion,  which  was  also  in  vogue  in  England,  nor 
that  we  find  the  custom  appearing  simultaneously  with 
other  French  fashions  in  the  United  States,  first  among 
the  elect  and  then  wherever  sufficient  material  could  be 
obtained. 

Monarchic  social  life  again  dictated  fashion  but  was 
no  longer  able  to  confine  it  to  the  court,  nobility,  or 
even  to  the  bourgeoisie.  The  proletariat  was  slowly 
coming  into  its  own  and  enjoying  all  the  sensations 
attendent  upon  being  "dressed  up"  in  fashion,  if  not  in 
quality  or  taste.  Thus  grew  the  individual  idea  even 
in  the  last  of  the  monarchic  epochs  of  France. 

The  marriage  of  the  Emperor  took  place  in  the  cathe- 

305 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

dral  of  Notre  Dame  and  the  bride  wore  a  dress  of  white 
terry  velvet  with  a  long  court  train.  The  basque 
bodice  was  high  and  trimmed  heavily  with  diamonds, 
sapphires,  and  orange  blossoms.  The  entire  skirt  was 
covered  with  point  d  'Angleterre  and  the  long  veil  was  of 
the  same  material.  Her  hair  was  dressed  in  two 
bandeaux,  one  in  front,  the  veil  raised  and  peaked  in  the 
style  Marie  Stuart,  the  other  rolled  from  the  top  of  her 
head  to  her  neck  where  it  ended  in  a  mass  of  curls, 
which  according  to  a  contemporary  poet  looked  like  a 
"nest  of  Cupids." 

"Full  dress"  became  an  object  of  ambition  among 
the  middle  classes  as  well  as  the  imperialists  and,  we 
are  told,  "the  brilliant  inventions  of  fashion  succeeded 
each  other  uninterruptedly."  Attempts  were  made  to 
revive  the  styles  of  the  First  Empire  as  they  would 
more  nearly  express  the  political  social  succession  than 
any  new  invention,  but  a  counter  movement  prevented 
this  from  being  achieved  to  any  great  extent  because, 
no  doubt,  of  the  unquenchable  longing  of  the  human 
species  for  something  new  and  original.  A  fair  idea  of 
the  fashions  of  the  winter  of  1854  is  given  in  the  follow- 
ing description  of  a  dress  worn  at  the  opera:  "The 
gown  was  of  gray  'poulte  de  soie,'  the  high  bodice  was 
fastened  by  ruby  buttons,  and  the  basque,  open  on  the 
hips,  was  trimmed  with  a  knot  of  cherry  coloured 
ribbons;  the  five  flounces  of  the  skirt  were  edged  with 
ribbon  of  the  same  hue  laid  on  flat  and  terminating  in 
bows  with  long  ends."  This,  if  representative,  certainly 
was  aiming  at  a  simplicity  that  was  commendable  when 
compared  with  the  Empire  style  in  1810. 

Court  ladies  in  general  followed  the  style  set  by  the 
306 


FOR  LESS  THAN  ROYAL  PERSONAGES  SIMPLICITY  IN  ENSEMBLE 
WITH  PECULIARITIES  AND  EXAGGERATION  IN  DETAIL  MARK 
THE  EARLY  PART  OF  THIS  PERIOD. 


j? 


ORIGINALITY,      NOT     TASTE,      WAS      THE      NOT      INFREQUENT 

CAUSE  OF  FASHION'S  COMBINATIONS  AS   INTERPRETED   BY 
THE  BOURGEOISIE. 


MANY  SIMPLE,  LOVELY,  AND  ADAPTABLE  COSTUMES  ARE  FOUND 
BETWEEN  1815  AND  1825  AMONG  PEOPLE  OF  TASTE  WHO  WERE 
LOATH  TO  RENOUNCE  THE  AESTHETIC  SENSE  AS  THE  CENTURY 
ADVANCED. 


THIS    PORTRAIT    (ITALIAN),  DONE    IN    1829,    MIGHT   ALMOST   BE    BUT 
TWO  DECADES  OLD,  OR  EVEN  LESS,  IN  SOME  OF  ITS  DETAILS. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

Empress,  ladies  of  the  rich  bourgeoisie  vied  each  other 
for  the  first  place  in  fashion's  feats,  while  the  great 
actresses  of  the  day  each  strove  to  outdo  the  Empress 
in  matters  of  novelty  and  eccentricity.  Notwithstand- 
ing all  this,  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe  for  the  installation 
of  the  periodic  recurrence  of  new  fashions  in  all  things 
which  developed  later,  and  which  is  in  force  to  this 
day. 

The  tendency  of  the  rather  simple,  though  rich,  ap- 
parel of  the  early  Second  Empire  was,  in  general,  to 
mould  the  body  into  a  youthful,  slim  shape,  giving  a 
somewhat  delicate  effect.  This,  with  the  trains  and 
flowing  mantles  gave  a  certain  dignity  and  grace,  which 
was  to  be  rudely  displaced  by  the  introduction  of 
crinoline  and  hoops  in  1854.  This  ungraceful  and 
bothersome  fashion  was  quickly  taken  up  by  the  never 
satisfied  ones  with  a  zeal  that  seemed  to  indicate  a  long 
felt  desire  again  to  conceal  all  the  lines  of  the  body  and 
to  contest  the  right  of  others  even  to  a  place  in  space. 
By  the  more  conservative  the  excess  was,  of  course, 
constantly  attacked,  as  such  freaks  always  have  been. 
Fashion  was  triumphant  none  the  less,  and  the  devious 
ways  for  "swelling  out"  one's  clothes  which  were  in- 
vented are  numerous  enough  to  convince  one  that  to  go 
with  the  stream  is  the  final  fate  of  all,  even  though  they 
stand  out  against  the  particular  manner  in  which  they 
go. 

Ruffled,  starched  petticoats,  flowered  skirts  stuffed 
with  horsehair,  real  hoops  of  wood,  whalebone,  and 
steel,  these  and  other  devices  soon  succeeded  in  elimina- 
ting the  shape  of  the  human  body  from  all  consideration 
in  the  matter  of  dress,  and  the  creation  of  abominable 

307 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

forms  seems  to  have  completely  absorbed  human  in- 
genuity. 

Between  1855  and  1860  there  was  a  wave  of  tre- 
mendous enthusiasm  for  life  at  watering  places  such  as 
Dieppe,  Trouville,  Biarritz,  Vichy,  Plombieres  and 
Bagneres.  These  visits  were  made,  of  course,  for  the 
health  of  the  pilgrims,  much  as  our  social  migrations  are 
made  to  Palm  Beach,  French  Lick,  White  Sulphur, 
Atlantic  City,  or  Coronado.  Then,  as  now,  at  such 
places  fashion  was  working  overtime.  One  writer 
says:  "The  most  fantastic  and  even  eccentric  costumes 
were  invented  not  only  for  women  but  for  girls  and 
children  also."  And  then  he  tells  how,  clad  in  all 
possible  finery,  the  ladies  walked  by  the  sea  or  sat  about 
the  thermal  resorts,  chattering  and  showing  how 
"dressy  and  chic"  they  could  be.  Alas!  we  seem  after 
all  only  to  have  imitated  our  predecessors,  and  some- 
what grotesquely  at  that,  if  old  prints  and  other  docu- 
ments of  1855  and  photographs  shown  in  our  Sunday 
papers  may  be  considered  authentic. 

It  is  written  in  the  "History  of  Fashion,"  by 
Challamel,  that  around  1870  "women  indulged  more 
than  ever  in  the  strangest  whims  of  fashion.  The 
minor  newspapers  even  published  paragraphs  describing 
the  costumes  of  this  or  that  great  lady,  designating  each 
by  her  name,  by  no  means  to  the  displeasure  of  the 
fair  ones  thus  distinguished.  Tailors  and  dressmakers 
grew  very  rich."  It  is  not  unlikely  that  both  these 
statements  may  be  true  and  that  as  papers  and  mag- 
azines have  increased  in  number,  and  as  "great  ladies" 
is  merely  a  relative  term,  the  times  were  not  unlike 
that  in  which  we  live,  either  in  impulse  or  aspiration. 
308 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

» 

Many  new  periodicals  devoted  entirely  to  fashion 
sprang  up  in  this  decade,  not  only  in  France  but  else- 
where, and  this  hastened  the  day  for  the  copy  of 
French  fashions  by  all  Christendom. 

The  dress  of  the  Duchesse  de  Mouchy,  worn  at  a 
Beauvais  ball  in  1869,  gives  us  an  idea  of  the  quality  of 
the  epoch.  It  consisted  of  a  gown  and  train  of  white 
silk  gauze  spotted  with  silver,  a  short  overdress  of  red 
currant  coloured  silk  forming  a  ruched  "tablier,"  a 
low  square-cut  bodice  and  shoulder  straps  of  diamonds 
and  rubies  and  a  wide  scarf  of  flowers  with  silver  leaves 
which  fell  from  one  shoulder  slanting  across  the  skirt. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  decided  change  in  fashion 
as  to  skirts  took  place.  "  The  balloon  skirt  gave  way  to  a 
close  fitting  bag,"  says  a  recorder  of  fashions,  "and 
tubs  to  laths."  As  on  former  occasions  there  was  a 
bitter  struggle  but  a  complete  annihilation  of  the  older 
mode  was  the  final  outcome.  Quantities  of  jewellery 
were  worn,  and  feathers,  ribbons,  and  artificial  flowers 
were  popular. 

This  period  of  the  return  of  the  spirit  of  imperialism 
to  power  was  one  of  history's  most  convincing  ex- 
amples of  the  futility  of  trying  to  revive  worn  out  art 
forms  to  express  old  ideas  developing  under  new  con- 
ditions. Ever  and  anon  the  forms  of  the  mediaeval, 
the  classic,  the  earlier  French  styles  and  the  First 
Empire,  were  revived  and  made  to  express  this  new 
imperialism  imposed  upon  an  only  half  willing  people, 
but  when  each  was  tried  out  it  went  rapidly  into  dis- 
card, another  taking  its  place.  The  lesson  is  obvious. 
The  spirit  of  the  day  was  not  at  home  in  these  old 
bodies  and  therefore  both  refused  to  function.  An 

309 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

abnormal  condition  of  pretence,  discontent,  and  stuffi- 
ness resulted,  excelled  however,  in  England,  where 
these  unsatisfactory  conditions  were  still  more  aggra- 
vated. 

In  1870  was  inaugurated  the  Third  Republic,  the 
beginning  of  present  day  life  in  France,  and  there- 
fore the  beginning  of  the  determination  of  world 
fashions,  the  time  of  their  appearance  and  the  sources 
from  which  they  should  be  taken.  With  the  fitful 
days  of  1870,  the  German  occupation  and  domination, 
the  loss  of  Alsace  Lorraine  and  the  gradual  return  to 
normal  life  we  are  all  familiar.  Even  these  incidents, 
however,  furnished  ideas  for  fashion's  whims.  First 
came  a  return  to  bare  fundamentals,  then  some  Ger- 
man and  Bavarian  imitations,  followed  by  a  senti- 
mental copy  and  adaptation  of  the  national  costumes 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 

"In  1873  feminine  dress  became  extremely  com- 
plicated," we  read.  "All  kinds  of  ornamentations 
were  used  with  more  or  less  happy  effect.  It  seemed  as 
if  feminine  vanity  were  endeavouring  to  make  up  for 
the  lost  years  of  1871  and  1872.  Simplicity  was  suc- 
ceeded by  finery  of  all  sorts  and  the  trimmings  of  dresses 
cost  enormous  prices.  Fifteen  or  twenty  flounces  were 
put  on  one  skirt.  Costumes  were  trimmed  with 
chased,  bronzed,  or  oxydized  buttons." 

Here  we  find  authorities  universally  agreed  that  the 
age  of  independent  dress,  each  one  following  her  own 
taste,  began  in  earnest.  Each  fashion  had  infinite 
variety  in  its  interpretations,  many  of  which  were  im- 
mediately pronounced  anarchical  by  those  accustomed 
to  obey  fashion's  dictates.  Now  it  was  that  cut  be- 
310 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

came  the  principal  thing,  materials  and  trimmings 
being  graded  according  to  the  wealth  or  whim  of  the 
wearer.  If  the  new  Republic  sought  to  simplify  dress 
or  to  reduce  its  cost,  it  failed.  On  the  contrary  luxury 
increased,  display  became  a  mania  and  the  prole- 
tariat came  again  into  its  own  with  complete  surrender 
to  its  new  possibilities.  Thus  was  firmly  established 
the  order  in  which  we  live,  which  has  its  advantages  for 
those  whose  sense  of  humour  is  still  alive. 

In  a  book  published  in  New  York  about  1877  we 
find  an  attempt  to  awaken  the  new  world  aesthetic 
sense  to  its  relation  with  costumes,  and  the  injection 
of  the  moral  element  in  the  treatment  of  various  items 
of  personal  adornment.  The  writer  assures  us  that 
the  art  of  dressing  the  head  and  the  art  of  fashion  are 
connected  without  being  identical,  and  that  in  spite  of 
this  close  association  we  may  readily  detect  their 
differences.  He  writes  also:  "Like  all  other  parts  of 
her  dress,  a  woman's  bonnet  is  an  indication  of  char- 
acter, and  this  can  only  arise  from  its  relation  to  senti- 
ment. Look  at  that  nun  who  is  passing  by,  devoted  to 
charitable  works,  and  who  bears  the  name  of  the  virtue 
she  practices;  she  wears  on  her  head  a  large  white 
cornette,  which  conceals  the  profile  of  her  face,  only 
leaving  the  organs  of  sight,  breathing,  and  speech 
uncovered;  her  hair  is  invisible,  and  even  its  growth  is 
hid  under  the  bandage  across  her  forehead.  Starched 
and  stiff,  this  cornette  expresses  to  herself  complete 
withdrawal  from  the  world.  Its  single  fold  has  a  pur- 
pose and  determination;  no  hand  has  touched  it.  Its 
smooth  whiteness  is  an  emblem  of  chastity  and  purity. 
Look  now,  at  a  fashionable  young  lady  of  the  present 

311 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

day.  who  has  discovered  how  to  wear  a  bonnet  without 
its  covering  her  head,  and  who,  far  from  concealing  her 
hair,  draws  it  back,  puffs  it,  crimps  it,  displays  it,  and 
even  adds  to  it  an  artificial  abundance.  Are  not  these 
the  two  extremes  of  bonnets  between  which  every 
variety  of  severity  and  coquetry  may  find  a  place?  .  .  . 

"In  proportion  as  austerity  diminishes,  the  front  of 
the  bonnet  diminishes  likewise,  and  when  the  Quaker- 
esses give  up  the  tenets  of  their  sect  they  will  certainly 
alter  the  uniform  bonnet  which  is  one  of  the  outward 
signs  of  their  belief.  If  freedom  of  manners  were  to 
gain  the  victory  over  sedate  deportment  or  hypocrisy, 
there  would  be  nothing  left  of  the  bonnet  but  the  shape 
and  the  strings 

"A  bonnet  is  simply  an  excuse  for  a  feather,  a  pre- 
text for  a  spray  of  flowers,  the  support  of  an  aigrette, 
the  fastening  for  a  plume  of  Russian  cock's  feathers. 
It  is  placed  on  the  head,  not  to  protect  it,  but  that  it 
may  be  seen  better.  Its  great  use  is  to  be  charming. 
.  .  .  Let  there  be  no  mistake:  there  are  many 
things  in  the  bonnet  which  do  not  depend  upon  fashion, 
which  are  released  from  its  absolute  yet  limited  control. 
All  the  ukases  of  this  capricious  and  fantastic  sovereign 
will  not  prevent  a  bonnet  fastened  by  strings  from  being 
more  modest,  more  of  a  covering — I  was  going  to  say 
more  seemly — than  a  little  cap  perched  on  one  side,  or  a 
plate  upside  down,  like  the  Nice  bonnet,  fastened  to  the 
back  of  the  hair  by  a  ribbon  nearly  horizontal,  and 
whose  ends  float  behind.  It  is  clear  that  with  the  one 
bonnet  we  connect  the  idea  of  reserve,  with  the  other 
the  idea  of  liberty." 

In  a  most  amusing  and  assured  way  he  goes  on  to  tell 
312 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

us  how  one's  character  is  shown  to  the  world  with  un- 
mistakable clarity  by  the  angle  at  which  the  hat  is 
worn,  by  the  kinds  of  feathers  or  flowers  we  "select 
because  of  our  sentiments,"  by  the  character  and  colour 
of  the  materials  we  use;  and  then  declares  against 
fashion's  right  to  interfere  with  every  woman's  right 
and  sacred  duty  to  "know  herself"  and  to  adorn  this 
conscious  self  with  a  respectful  acknowledgment  of  her 
personal  graces  and  also  of  her  weaknesses,  in  such 
manner  that  only  the  former  shall  appear  to  him  who 
looks  on.  Thus  endeth  a  chapter  representing  the 
nineteenth  century  point  of  view,  worth  contrasting 
with  any  of  the  preceding  epochs  and  comparing  with 
some  of  the  modern  up-lift  movements  in  dress  still 
going  on.  Although  this  idea  was  not  new  it  functions 
more  easily  in  the  self-righteous  clumsiness  of  a  mature 
Victorianism  than  it  could  have  in  Venice  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  Goldoni  wrote:  "Women 
are  wrong  in  my  opinion,  in  following  any  general 
mode  of  dressing  the  hair:  every  one  ought  to  consult 
her  glass,  to  examine  the  features,  and  to  adapt  the 
arrangement  of  her  hair  to  the  style  of  her  countenance 
and  to  make  the  hair  dresser  follow  her  orders." 

Goldoni  only  dared  appeal  to  the  material  appearance 
of  the  lady,  while  our  Victorian  saw  a  way  into  the 
possibilities  of  soul  qualities,  as  worthy  of  expression 
in  dress. 

Those  of  us  who  have  felt  some  sympathy  with  the 
laws  of  design  even  in  dress  have  perchance  been 
annoyed  by  the  unwieldy  watch  chains  of  men,  when 
hung  from  the  centre  button  hole  of  the  waistcoat  and 
swung  in  a  long  loop  to  the  left  hand  pocket,  with  noth- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

ing  appearing  on  the  right  side  to  account  for  this 
intrusion  on  an  otherwise  inconspicuous  garment.  It  is 
comforting  to  find  that  one  of  the  most  strongly  urged 
art  principles  in  this  revival  was  that  of  balance  in 
appearance  and  to  discover  a  critic  comparing  this 
watch  chain  obsession  to  a  woman  with  one  earring, 
who,  he  declares,  would  be  impossible  to  look  upon. 

The  long  frock  coat  is  ridiculed  here  because  of  its 
unseemly  proportions,  the  wide  expanse  of  white 
shirt  front,  as  being  too  arrogant,  self-important,  and 
distressing  to  the  cultivated  eye.  Black  gloves  are 
called  intolerable  because  they  extinguish,  as  under  a 
layer  of  ink,  what  is  of  greater  importance  to  the  human 
body. 

Curiously,  the  writer  attempts  to  resurrect  the  knowl- 
edge that  such  a  thing  as  taste  exists,  then  to  stimulate 
a  desire  to  possess  and  express  it.  Often  by  appealing 
to  the  purely  sentimental  he  expects  to  awaken  a 
spiritual  sense  which  he  calls  "character,"  then  he 
urges  the  expression  of  this  quality  in  dress,  in  the 
place  of  a  blind  following  of  fashion's  mandates.  If 
we  could  measure  his  results  we  should  no  doubt  find 
that  he  influenced  a  small  number  to  think  a  little,  and 
that  alone  would  be  a  sufficient  reward  for  his  work, 
though  fashion's  power  was  still  uncrippled.  If  more 
than  a  few  individual  minds  were  touched,  no  evidence 
remains  either  in  the  dress  of  the  time  or  in  the  in- 
herited practices  of  those  of  our  own  generation. 
Here,  unhappily,  art,  sentiment,  and  morals  gave  way 
again  to  vanity,  frivolity,  and  fashion. 

With  the  growth  and  spread  of  Paris  fashions  since 
1875  we  are  not  concerned  in  detail,  but  to  recognize 
314 


FROM  1830  TO  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  CENTURY  '  CAPRICE  KNEW  NO 
BOUNDS"  BUT  EVIDENTLY  UGLINESS  WAS  EVEN  LESS  HAMPERED. 


THIS    ILLUSTRATION    WAS    TAKEN    FROM    THE    "JOURNAL    OF    PARIS 

FASHIONS"  FOR  THE  SPRING  OF  1834.     THE  EFFECT  is  MORE  ELO- 
QUENT THAN  COMMENT. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

her  contributions  to  the  nineteenth  century  is  im- 
portant, and  to  look  somewhat  into  the  cause  and 
effect  of  her  hectic  political  and  social  life  during  that 
century  is  to  see  again  that  these  elements  are  always 
active  in  determining  any  style. 

As  in  the  eighteenth,  so  in  the  nineteenth  century 
Italy  was  committed  to  French  influence  in  matters  re- 
lating directly  to  social  life.  Almost  forgotten  were  the 
pompous,  haughty,  and  oppressive  customs  of  the  Span- 
ish tyrants.  The  less  civilized,  if  no  less  arrogant  and 
repressive  Austrian  manners  were  a  thing  of  memory 
rather  than  an  element  of  social  practice.  The  frivo- 
lous and  amusing  fashions  of  the  French  had  inspired 
social  aims  for  nearly  a  century,  and  the  arts,  including 
costumes,  had  responded  to  this  influence  with  little 
real  interruption  until  it  had  become  a  habit. 

The  advent  of  Napoleon  was  in  some  ways  a  relief,  for 
it  loosened  Austria's  political  hold,  and  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Empire  style  furnished  a  new  motive  for 
intuitive  Italian  inventiveness.  Through  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  Austrian  the  French  influence  was  strength- 
ened and  long  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon  we  find  the 
ladies  of  Italy,  particularly  in  Piedmont,  Naples, 
Venice,  and  Rome  modifying  and  using  the  Empire 
fashions,  while  they  looked  westward  for  new  ideas  as 
they  were  being  developed  in  France  and  England. 

A  foreign  officer  in  the  British  service  in  Italy  wrote  in 
1819  of  the  ladies  of  Turin:  "The  bourgeoisie  of  Turin 
dress  in  coloured  gowns,  black  silk  aprons  and  caps 
quite  a  la  Francaise.  This  class  of  females,  consisting 
in  Turin  of  shopkeepers'  wives  and  daughters,  milliners, 
etc.,  are  very  free  in  their  manners  and  address,  and 

315 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

have  a  good  deal  of  French  coquetry  about  them.  The 
Piedmontese  ladies  dress  generally  after  the  French 
fashion  but  of  late  may  have  rather  adopted  the  English 
style." 

Other  documents  seem  to  indicate  that  during  the 
rest  of  the  first  half  of  the  century  a  sort  of  Anglo- 
mania sprang  up,  particularly  in  Venice  and  Turin,  as  it 
did  in  France,  and  that  one  of  the  first  apparent  results 
was  seen  in  fashion  in  dress.  This,  however,  was  not 
universal  and  France  continued  to  be  the  centre  from 
which  emanated  fashion's  last  word. 

Nothing  of  gain  to  our  purpose  could  come  from  a 
further  discussion  of  the  nineteenth  century  styles  in 
England,  particularly  after  the  first  quarter  of  the 
century.  Their  origin,  development,  and  reflex  here  are 
too  familiar  to  require  repetition  and  there  is  nothing 
new  either  in  their  idea  or  operation  that  has  not  ap- 
peared in  more  attractive  form  over  and  over  again  in 
our  discussion  of  cause  and  effect  in  life.  Only  in  the 
proportion  of  its  active  elements  does  it  differ  from 
other  manifestations  and  therefore  in  the  quality  of  its 
results.  The  aesthetic  sense  practically  ,  eliminated, 
sentiment  turning  to  sentimentality,  science  supplanting 
cultural  learning,  and  iron-bound  morality  taking  the 
place  of  imagination  or  a  sense  of  humour,  left  the 
question  of  costumes  rather  bare  of  interest,  except  per- 
haps during  the  period  when  fainting  fits  were  fashion- 
able, when  the  wan  and  hungry  bodies  of  all  nice  ladies 
were  covered  with  hoops,  ruffles,  pokes,  and  ribbons  in 
such  a  manner  that  a  certain  charm  of  romantic  frailty 
surrounded  these  helpless  apparitions.  Through  our 
inheritance  of  chivalry  we  learned  to  admire  these,  and 
316 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY  STYLES 

to  love  to  protect  them.  But  all  this  is  tiresome,  for  it 
was  almost  better  staged  in  the  United  States  than  it 
was  in  England,  its  natural  home. 

Of  the  fashions  from  1895  until  the  dawn  of  the 
present  century  we  are  satisfied  to  remain  as  ignorant 
as  we  may;  if  perchance  we  are  not  satisfied  to  rest  as 
easily  about  our  own  fashions,  there  is  plenty  of  mat- 
erial available  for  those  of  us  whose  memory  does  not 
go  quite  back  to  that  time. 


317 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

EARLY    TWENTIETH    CENTURY 
CHARACTERISTICS 


THE  conception  of  life  called  medievalism,  with  its 
highly  specialized  spiritual  aims  and  its  ecclesiastical 
scenario  was  but  a  reaction  after  all  against  the  in- 
tellectually developed  ideal  of  classic  Greece,  already 
debased  by  foreign  adoption  and  misrepresentation. 
The  elements  of  humanism,  always  present,  though 
sometimes  suppressed  for  a  time,  boldly  reasserted 
themselves  together  with  their  new  ally,  the  classic 
ideal,  and  soon  the  Renaissance  displaced  mediaeval- 
ism.  This  more  complex  conception  of  life  in  which  are 
involved  mainly  three  general  factors,  the  appetites,  the 
intellect,  and  the  desire  for  material  objects,  has  fur- 
nished the  elements  for  the  ideals  of  civilized  peoples 
since  the  fifteenth  century,  sometimes  dictated  from 
one  angle  sometimes  from  another,  according  to  geo- 
graphic position  surrounding  conditions  and  national  or 
local  mental  development-  A  passion  for  culture,  for  art, 
or  for  amusement,  and  even  for  the  pleasures  imagined 
to  be  found  in  over-indulged  appetites,  or  the  greed  for 
personal  gain,  called  commercialism,  have  been  ever 
and  again  the  central  ideas  around  which  a  period  has 
been  formed  and  a  style  crystallized. 

Interruptions  of  each  particular  phase  of  this  in- 
318 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

tellectual  and  material  ideal  begun  by  the  Renais- 
sance have  taken  place  at  times,  just  as  one  great 
fundamental  ideal  was  interrupted  in  its  application  by 
the  birth  and  development  of  another,  before  the  Ren- 
naissance  became  a  reality.  We  have  seen  how  the 
beginning  of  the  modern  social  ideal  appeared  in 
France  and  was  named  Chivalry,  how  it  served  its 
time  and  left  its  legacy  to  sixteenth  century  social 
France,  and  how  the  Renaissance  adopted  it  and  tried 
it  from  several  angles,  until  it  finally  gave  way  before 
the  powerful  domination  of  centralized  autocracy  in  mat- 
ters of  social  life  under  the  stupendous  concept  of  the 
period  of  Louis  XIV.  This,  when  sufficiently  worked 
out,  elaborated  and  lived  through,  gave  us  that  marvel- 
lous eighteenth  century  of  artistic  social  expression. 
When  in  turn  this  became  effete  it  was  interrupted 
by  the  concept,  already  formulated,  of  scientific  and 
commercial  nineteenth  century  development  as  a  dom- 
inating factor  around  which  to  build  a  nation's  life 
interest. 

Already  in  1920  signs  of  dissatisfaction  with  this 
view  of  life  are  seen  everywhere;  the  field  of  religion  is 
seething  with  new  beliefs  with  new  names,  the  political 
systems  of  Christendom  are  shaken  to  their  foundations, 
while  entirely  new  orders  are  being  freely  predicted 
and  tried.  The  lines  of  social  caste  are  threatened  from 
every  direction,  and  work,  education,  pleasure,  and 
amusement  are  receiving  no  end  of  discussion,  experi- 
ment, and  speculation. 

Amidst  all  this  melee  fashion  is  still  unscathed  and 
unabashed.  The  vogue  in  clothes  is  not  one  whit  less 
important  than  it  ever  has  been,  its  every  change  is  as 

319 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

eagerly  watched  for  as  it  was  in  1780  at  Versailles,  or  in 
Mantua  in  1500  and,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  Paris 
still  has  supreme  control  of  fashion's  trend.  The  reason 
for  this  is  a  deep-seated  one,  but  it  harks  back  directly 
to  that  great  period  of  the  Grande  Monarque,  to  whose 
fashions  we  are  all  heirs.  In  this  period  and  in  those 
succeeding  may  be  discerned  the  psychology  as  well 
as  the  history  of  the  present  situation  with  the  signs 
that  point  already  with  unmistakable  directness  not 
only  to  a  new  interruption  and  reaction,  but  to  certain 
elements  which  will  be  active  in  the  composition  of  this 
reaction. 

Louis  XIV  may  rightly  be  said  to  have  made  and 
unmade  France,  and  France  the  civilized  world,  so  far 
as  matters  of  art  and  fashion  are  concerned.  The 
perfection  of  this  autocratic  political-social  system, 
conceived  and  worked  out  during  this  long  reign,  won 
for  itself,  particularly  in  all  its  social  ramifications,  not 
only  the  astonishment  of  the  civilized  world,  but  the 
conceded  right  practically  to  dictate  to  civilized  Europe 
its  social  customs  and  its  graces,  with  the  resultant 
styles  and  fashions,  in  which  life  is  consciously  and 
unconsciously  set.  This  supremacy  was  attained,  how- 
ever, by  a  segregation  of  classes,  violent  suppression  of 
the  masses,  and  unrestricted  leisure  of  individuals  to  act 
to  one  end,  namely  the  perfection  of  this  machine  which, 
by  its  very  autocratic  centralization  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  appalling  revolution  through  which  crushed 
individual  initiative  sought  once  more  to  assert  itself. 
In  the  realization  of  this  objective  the  old  order  was 
completely  destroyed,  and  with  it  went  the  immediate 
outward  customs  and  the  art  forms  by  which  the  old 
320 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

regime  had  been  expressed.  But  three  very  important 
things  remained  and  to  this  day  they  are  no  less  power- 
ful than  they  were  in  the  eighteenth  century,  even 
though  in  certain  exigencies  and  emergencies  nations 
raise  their  voices  in  protest,  heralding  a  new  era,  a 
liberal  social  order  and  a  "modern  art  expression." 

Before  the  outbreak  of  the  great  World  War,  for 
example,  we  were  much  interested  in  Germany's  new 
and  practical  form  of  "art  expression,"  but  as  for  its 
art  quality  or  the  desirability  of  the  ideas  for  which  it 
stood,  there  seemed  to  be  much  difference  of  opinion, 
with  the  result  that  we  returned  to  the  civilization  that 
gave  birth  to  ours,  whose  art  quality  had  stood  the 
test  of  centuries  even  though  customs  and  forms  had 
been  and  should  be  modified.  By  and  by  we  shall 
learn  that,  in  art  as  well  as  religion,  there  is  but  one  god 
and  that  is  truth.  Art  quality  does  not  change,  and 
art  objects  are  produced  only  when  the  art  quality  is 
present  in  the  minds  of  those  persons  who  create  ob- 
jects, and  when  this  quality  is  a  conscious  necessity  to 
those  who  use  the  objects  after  they  are  nifede. 

The  French  national  ideals  in  the  reigns  from  Louis 
XIV  to  Louis  XVI  made  possible  a  limited  aristocratic, 
autocratic  class,  demanding  more  and  more  as  it  became 
more  attenuated,  just  this  measure  of  art  quality  for  its 
satisfaction;  and  the  concentrated  creative  powers  of 
Europe  were  mustered  into  action  to  satisfy  this 
demand.  The  results  speak  for  themselves.  These  ob- 
jects of  art  are  sought  by  all  people  of  taste  through- 
out the  world,  both  for  the  aesthetic  pleasure  they  give 
and  as  models  of  form  and  colour  from  which  inspiration 
to  create  anew  may  be  drawn. 

321 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

These  objects  of  art  constitute  but  one  of  the  three 
important  things  that  this  artistic  social  order  be- 
queathed to  us.  f  The  undisputed  supremacy  of  France 
as  qualified  to  speak  with  finality  upon  matters  relating 
to  the  polite  amenities  of  social  intercourse,  and  her 
rightful  position  as  the  art  centre  of  the  world,  cast  a 
spell  of  submissive  respect  upon  the  peoples  of  the 
civilized  world.  The  French  language,  French  manners, 
and  French  fashions  were  as  eagerly  sought  and  copied 
by  the  world  at  large  as  they  were  willingly  handed 
over  by  the  French  themselves.  Habit  is  invincible. 
France's  position  is  still  unassailable.  In  fashion's 
realm  the  world  awaits  with  bated  breath  her  mandates. 
The  great  Sunday  papers  of  New  York  City  print  pages 
to-day,  February  the  twenty-second,  1920,  about  just 
this  matter,  from  which  these  sentences  are  quoted: 
"THE  INFLUENCE  OF  PARIS  IS  DOMINANT  IN 
OUR  FIRST  SHOWING  OF  SPRING  FASHIONS. 
Paris  and  pleats  are  inseparable — everywhere  they  ap- 
pear— in  upstanding  ruffs,  in  inserted  panels,  in  tunics, 
in  skirts,  in  any  fabric,  colour,  or  garment."  Then 
follows  a  description  of  patterns,  fabrics,  cuts,  and 
details,  with  reference  to  each  Paris  house  whose 
dictates  have  been  accepted. 

Soon  the  costumes  from  Paris  will  come;  then  the  mad 
rush  to  own  one,  after  making  perfectly  certain,  of 
course,  that  the  label  naming  the  house  from  which  it 
came  is  still  in  its  place,  and  probably  being  unable  at 
the  same  time  to  ascertain  with  certainty  whether  or  not 
the  costume  or  the  label  is  "authentic"  or  when  or 
where  the  label  was  sewn  on;  but  that  doesn't  matter, 
the  psychology  is  obvious,  or  will  be,  when  all  those  who 


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CONTRAST  THE  QUAINT  AFFECTATIONS  OF  THIS  ILLUSTRATION  OF 
THE  SAME  DATE  WITH  THE  SUPREME  UGLINESS  OF  THE  PRECEDING 
ONE  FOR  AN  EXAMPLE  OF  VARIETY  IN  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  A 
VOGUE. 


IF  IN  NO  OTHER  PARTICULAR  OUR  MODERN  YOUNG  WOMEN  MAY  FIND 
SOLACE  IN  QUEEN  VICTORIA'S  ATTEMPT  TO  COVER  HER  EARS,  WHICH, 
IF  NOT  WHOLLY  SUCCESSFUL,  WAS  CERTAINLY  MORE  DECORATIVE 
THAN  OUR  METHOD. 


OF  THE  FUSSINESS  OF  THE  MID-CENTURY  WE  NOT  ONLY  FIND  THE 
PRECEDING  ILLUSTRATION  ILLUMINATING,  BUT  THIS  PORTRAIT 
'OF  THE  QUEEN  OF  LOUIS  PHILIPPE,  CONVINCING. 


WHILE  ITALY  WAS  POSSESSED  WITH  THE  DESIRE  TO  APPEAR  DELI- 
CATE, THIS  MID-CENTURY  PORTRAIT  OF  A  PRINCESS  SHOWS  THE 
EPOCH  AT  ITS  BEST,  IN  A  COSTUME  OF  REAL  CHARM. 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

cannot  afford  one  of  these  so-called  models  have  vainly 
tried  to  copy  one,  with  results  quite  familiar  to  us  all; 
but  the  sanctity  of  fashion's  stronghold  is  still  preserved. 

Associated  very  intimately  with  the  causes  of  this 
mixture  of  appreciation  and  awe  on  our  part  is  the  third 
legacy  of  the  great  period  mentioned  which  is  the  most 
important  of  all  to  see  and  to  emulate,  in  so  far  as 
that  may  be  possible,  considering  the  two  damaging 
restrictions  to  which  we  are  subject:  first,  the  state  of 
mind  in  which  we  find  ourselves  in  regard  to  art  ap- 
preciation, and  second,  our  decentralized  social  regime, 
which  has  the  effect  of  bringing  out  somewhat  remark- 
able, but  ephemeral,  dictators  of  our  social  life  to  whom 
practically  all  classes  turn  for  criteria  in  matters  of 
dress  as  inevitably  in  our  safely  democratic  country 
as  in  others,  during  any  period  of  history. 

This  third  element  is  concerned  with  the  art  quality  of 
French  fashions,  with  the  origin  of  this  quality,  and 
with  the  secret  of  its  automatic  operation  for  centuries 
in  France  while  other  great  peoples  have  only  striven  to 
make  money  to  buy  it,  apparently  not  interested  in 
what  it  is,  why  they  desire  it,  or  how  to  use  it  after  hav- 
ing bought  it,  the  desire  for  it  undoubtedly  being  most 
often  dictated  by  fashion,  habit,  or  other  personal 
reasons.  This,  seemingly,  is  the  problem  and  it  is 
worthy  the  study  of  a  people  who  not  only  are  desirous 
of  competing,  but  who  are,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
bent  upon  a  struggle  in  the  world  market  for  supremacy 
in  the  creation  of  things  the  art  quality  of  which  shall 
be  commercially  unassailable.  The  psychology  of  this 
situation  is  obvious.  By  ever  so  swift  a  process  it 
takes  a  nation,  like  an  individual,  some  time  to  acquire 

323 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

and  establish  firmly  in  consciousness  any  quality  so 
completely  associated  with  every  field  of  thought  that 
it  cannot  be  dislodged  either  from  the  thought  or  its 
expression.  Through  environment  and  study  only 
may  this  quality  be  acquired,  but  being  acquired,  its 
possession  quickens  the  aesthetic  sense  to  an  apprecia- 
tionx>f  its  value. 

Appreciation  and  the  possession  of  the  quality  arouse 
the  desire  for  expression,  or  the  creation  of  objects  or 
^conditions  in  which  this  quality  is  manifest.  This 
impulse  obeyed,  art  objects  result;  and  better  still,  if 
obeyed  often  enough  an  art  habit  is  formed  and  a  finer 
perception  acquired  of  what  constitutes  a  truly  har- 
monious relation  between  ideas  and  their  material  ex- 
pression. Whatever  in  French  fashions  is  the  result  of 
this  condition  will  tend  to  make  them  supreme,  until 
such  time  as  some  other  nation  shall  solve  the  problem 
better,  or  until  civilization  lapses  to  barbarism  and  the 
art  quality  is  of  less  moment  than  it  is  even  now. 
/But  art  is  only  one  quality  of  style  and  can  make  its 
appeal  only  to  the  aesthetic  sense  on  the  one  hand  and  to 
common  sense,  or  the  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things,  on 
the  other. 

Fashion  makes  its  appeal  to  a  wider  range  of  desires 
and  appetites  and  is  therefore  not  solely  dependent  upon 
the  art  quality  for  its  success,  although  the  quality 
itself  and  the  common  habit  of  thinking  we  want  it  is, 
and  indisputably  has  been  for  a  good  while,  a  desirable 
adjunct  to  life.  This  is  no  place  for  a  complete  analysis 
of  fashion,  for  we  must  all  have  decided  long  ere  this,  as 
we  looked  into  the  various  centuries,  to  what  elemental 
desires,  appetites,  vanities,  and  self  interest  this,  one  of 
324 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

the  greatest  of  earth's  autocrats,  has  made  and  no 
doubt  always  will  make,  its  inevitable  appeal.  The 
primal  need  for  shelter,  for  instance,  must  be  satisfied 
partly  by  dress,  yet  it  seems  at  times  that  protection 
from  the  elements  has  not  been  the  sole  reason  for 
wearing  clothes,  or  for  going  without  them  either. 
The  tradition  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  as  affecting  our 
dress  is  very  deeply  seated,  yet  even  this  has  frequently 
been  assailed  by  fashion's  claims  almost  to  the  upsetting 
of  habits  and  customs. 

The  fundamental  claim  of  man's  aesthetic  sense  for 
satisfaction,  and  the  interest  everyone  takes  in  his  own 
personal  appearance  has  always  impelled  him  to  decor- 
ate or  adorn  himself  in  such  manner  as  he  honestly 
believed  would  achieve  the  best  results.  In  this  he  was 
of  course  in  competition  with  his  neighbour,  who  was 
actuated  by  exactly  the  same  impulses.  Neither  could 
be  outdone  by  the  other  without  wounding  or  entirely 
destroying  his  pride^.  another  universal  human  quality. 
This  state  of  vanity,  selfishness,  pride,  and  aesthetic  con- 
ception thus  created  in  the  mind,  ever  has  been  and 
ever  will  be  one  of  fashion's  best  fields  in  which  to 
operate,  for  it  is  her  mission  to  invade  just  such  contests 
and  to  suggest  a  possible  satisfaction  for  these  mixed 
claims.  Through  the  appeal  to  man'.s  1™"*  "f  novelty 
she  has  generally  succeeded  in  getting  a 


hearing,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  desire  of  man  for  a 
new  sensation  is  fundamental  and  that  through  this 
desire  he  has  ever  and  anon  fallen  from  his  high  estate. 
We  should  not  presume  to  analyze  the  individual  mo- 
tives that  impel  man  to  adopt  what  is  known  as  the  "com- 
mercial idea."  How  universal  this  view  is  and  almost 

325 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

always  has  been,  how  it  has  grappled  with  the  best 
spiritual  ideals  and  cultural  concepts  of  man,  and  how 
surely  it  has  throttled  not  only  their  legitimate  develop- 
ment but  that  of  other  ideals,  needs  no  other  proof  than 
personal  memory.  The  ratio  of  selfish  nes^  passion  for 
possession,  for  self-preservation,  love  of  chance,  thirst 
for  power,  and  desire  for  the  luxuries  and  extravagances 
of  life  is  not  of  great  importance,  in  fact  it  probably  can 
never  be  relatively  estimated.  These  qualities  are 
known,  however,  to  exist  universally;  we  recognize 
them  in  others  and  we  acknowledgejtherr.pawer  and  the 
importance  of  the  ideal  for  which  they  stand,  if  ideal  it 
may  be  called,  since  it  has  ever  and  again  become  the 
most  important  individual  and  national  aim  in  life. 
Whenever  this  has  been  the  case  fashion  has  become  at 
once  its  devoted  accomplice,  and  never  without  success 
on  both  sides. 

Thus  has  fashion  allied  herself  to  the  changing  mind 
states  of  man,  always  keeping  in  view  not  only  his 
elemental  physical  appetites,  aesthetic  and  intellectual 
desires,  and  his  spiritual  longings,  but  his  every  weak- 
ness as  well.  It  matters  little  which  of  these  sets  of 
impulses  is  dominant,  for  it  is  as  easy  to  make  the 
attenuation  of  the  body  to  the  point  of  apparent 
elimination  the  goaLof  ambition  in  fa,shioTLjisit  is  to 
make  any  particular  part,  or  the  whole  of  it,  thcTobject 

aesthetic  prominence  or  of  appetite  satisfaction. 

Fashion  knows  no  limitations,  no  spiritual,  aesthetic, 
or  material  obstacles;  it  recognizes  only  man's  sus- 
ceptibilities and  his  weaknesses  and  it  is  bound  only  to 
satisfy  them,  whatever  or  wherever  their  demands. 
Thus,  forsooth,  it  seems,  upon  enquiring  into  the  past, 
326 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

to  be  more  universal  and  successful  than  we  had  hereto- 
fore supposed. 

To  regulate  the  natural,  and  for  that  matter  the 
unnatural,  instincts  and  impulses  of  the  human  race 
according  to  any,  even  temporarily  accepted,  religious, 
ethical,  moral  or  political,  intellectual,  aesthetic  or 
social  set  of  regulations  appears  to  have  been  difficult. 
When  by  some  particularly  fortunate  circumstance  this  xy 
has  been  possible  for  a  limited  time,  a  style  has  been 
expressed  the  understanding  of  which  enables  us  now  to 
trace  from  effect  to  cause  the  unalterable  fundamentals 
of  human  life,  and  the  relation  between  them  and  their 
expression.  No  condition  and  no  field  so  far  exploited 
seems  to  be  one  in  which  fashion  has  not  played  its  full 
role. 

It  was  thought,  for  example,  to  be  exactly  as  immoral 
in  the  thirteenth  century  for  mediaeval  ladies  to  go 
about  with  their  hair  uncovered  to  the  public  gaze  as  it 
was  in  the  Victorian  era  to  bare  certain  other  portions  of 
the  body,  or  as  it  is  now  to  place  no  limit  to  possible 
nakedness.  It  is  of  course  in  the  point  of  view  that  the 
impropriety  lies,  but  a  different  point  of  view  does  not 
in  the  least  change  the  occasional  grotesqueness  of  the 
exhibition. 

Presumably  it  was  as  unethical  for  the  jewellers, 
decorators,  and  costume  makers  of  the  early  sixteenth 
century  unrestrainedly  to  exploit  the  aesthetic  weakness 
and  the  limited  resources  of  Isabella,  Duchess  of 
Gonzaga,  as  it  is  now  for  these  same  personages  to 
exploit  in  like  manner  the  ignorance  and  weakness  of 
many  fine  ladies  of  our  day  who  have  unlimited  re- 
sources and  who  desire  to  shine  in  the  same  fields  as  did 

327 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

the  illustrious  duchess,  though  perhaps  for  dissimilar 
reasons. 

Polite  and  amusing  conversation  was  society's 
greatest  asset  in  the  eighteenth  century;  to  lack  it  was  a 
social  barrier;  to  possess  it  unlimited  time  and  effort 
were  freely  given  and  expense  incurred.  Even  this 
ideal  proved  to  be  destructible,  for  society  has  since 
found  satisfaction  in  other  practices  less  praiseworthy 
but  to  them  as  important,  without  which  no  person  was 
eligible  to  the  inner  life  of  the  socially  elect.  It  seems 
certain  that  nothing  good  or  evil  is  but  thinking  makes 
it  so,  and  that  thinking  it  so  for  any  large  group  of 
people  is  generally  dependent  upon  first  making  it  the 
fashion  to  so  think,  notwithstanding  the  few  who  have 
met  an  untimely  death  for  being  out  of  the  fashion  in 
thinking  for  themselves  before  the  fashion  so  to  think 
became  operative. 

Whatever  else  is  problematical,  certain  it  is  that 
Louis  XIV  made  France  the  dictator  of  social  forms  and 
of  fashions,  more  particularly  perhaps  as  it  is  expressed 
in  costume,  and  most  particularly  in  the  realm  of 
women's  dress,  for  which  she  is  still  the  dictator.  Long 
ago  England  wrested  from  her  the  right  to  say  what 
men,  particularly  conservative  ones,  should  wear  and 
when  they  should  wear  it.  Of  the  present  indications 
in  that  regard  we  shall  speak  later.  It  is  also  certain 
that  into  the  national  consciousness  of  France,  with  its 
complex  elements,  many  centuries  in  the  process  of 
making,  many  and  divers  ideals  were  injected;  that  she 
adopted  and  expressed  certain  of  them  more  clearly 
than  other  nations,  and  that  certain  other  ideals 
suffered  through  centralization  upon  those  adopted. 
328 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

Yet  in  the  last  analysis  she  has  the  same  elemental 
desires  and  impulses  as  other  peoples,  differing  at 
times  only  in  the  proportion  in  which  they  are  active. 
It  is  this  knowledge  that  gives  colour  and  interest  to 
life  and  makes  history  worth  studying. 

Until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  we  in  the  4 
United  States  were  true  children  of  the  mother  country 
actuated  to  be  sure  by  new  and  virile  ideas  of  life  the/ 
development  of  which  seemed  impossible  in  England/ 
This  condition  and  the  desire  for  adventure,  with 
other  causes,  led  to  our  Colonial  life.  Gradually  but 
surely  foreign  ideas  of  Germanic,  French,  and  Scandi- 
navian origin  filtered  in,  but  these  were  not  of  sufficient 
strength  to  make  themselves  noticeably  felt.  Radically 
differing  from  the  mother  country  in  regard  to  certain 
political  and  religious  methods  did  not  in  any  sense 
change  the  physical  or  mental  fibre  of  our  inheritance 
any  more  than  young  Riley  or  Cohen  of  our  generation 
are  denationalized  because  they  are  less  orthodox  in 
their  views  than  their  fathers.  We  dressed  in  the 
fashions  that  our  forefathers  accepted  long  after  we 
eschewed  their  orthodoxy  in  religion  and  politics. 

From  the  middle  of  the  century  to  the  accession  of 
Victoria  was  for  us  the  period  of  national  crystallization 
and  youthful  experience.  We  defied  the  old  folks  and 
all  their  doings,  violently  espoused  the  French  styles  and 
are  even  said  to  have  copied,  in  this  period,  German 
and  Scandinavian  customs,  and  ideas  for  costumes,  in 
our  first  consciousness  of  trying  to  be  original  and  as 
well  dressed  as  became  our  new  individual  import- 
ance. 

By  the  time  the  Victorian  era  was  well  under  way  in 

329 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

England,  let  us  say  in  1860,  and  the  blatant  and  hectic 
period  of  the  Second  Empire  in  France  was  well  estab- 
lished, the  urge  of  national  consciousness  to  create  for 
itself  became  so  great  that  we  arrived  almost  without 
effort  at  the  period  of  self  expression  called  variously 
"American  Victorian,"  "  the  Black  Walnut  Period  "  and, 
more  specifically  and  locally,  "the  Period  of  General 
Grant."  "The  Early  Pullman"  and  still  other  names 
were  given,  whose  comic  or  tragic  significance  recalls  to 
most  of  us  simply  the  ugliest  conception  of  human  ex- 
pression known  to  have  been  perpetrated  in  the  name  of 
civilization.  But  why  dwell  on  this  or  the  indescribable 
idiosyncrasies  of  dress?  Designs  for  costumes  pro- 
ceeded from  the  same  disordered  brain  as  those  for 
ponderous  architectural  beds,  swollen  plush  upholstery, 
and  the  "drooping  vine"  handmade  decorations  so 
beloved  by  all. 

The  aesthetic  sense  in  England  had  long  since  been 
denied  existence.  In  France  the  half  century  of  erratic 
national  antics  had,  for  the  time  being,  depleted  its 
vitality  to  the  point  of  temporary  disability.  In 
Italy  nothing  save  the  struggle  for  national  unity  found 
a  place  in  the  national  mind.  These  centres  of  in- 
spiration closed,  and  the  United  States  in  the  midst  of 
her  first  decided  original  period  expression,  with  an 
aesthetic  sense  the  results  of  which  speak  only  too  elo- 
quently of  its  quality,  the  art  of  modern  civilization 
reached  its  lowest  ebb  and  costumes  their  record,  for 
lack  of  charm  or  graciousness  or  art. 

The  first  ray  of  hope,  to  those  who  still  had  either 
the  desire  for  art  or  the  gift  to  think  in  terms  of  art,  was 
the  great  Centennial  (1876)  held  in  Philadelphia,  at 
330 


FOR  UNPARALLELED  INSIPIDITY  OF  POSE,  FOR  COSTUME  DESIGN 
ATTEMPTING  THE  IMPOSSIBLE,  YET  WITH  A  CERTAIN  REFINEMENT 
OF  GENERAL  APPEARANCE,  THE  PERIOD  OF  ABOUT  1862  IS  SUPREME. 


BY    1869    REDEMPTION    FROM    THE    IMPOSSIBLE    WAS    NO    LONGER    A 
MATTER   FOR   SPECULATION. 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

which  time  we  brought  together  in  this  country  for  the 
first  time  the  art  objects,  broadly  speaking,  of  the 
civilized  world.  The  dulled  and  soggy  national  art 
sense  was  jolted  into  semi-consciousness  and  with  the 
assistance  of  a  child's  instinctive  love  of  the  curious,  and 
an  awakening  fear  lest  some  other  people  had  something 
that  we  had  not,  we  first  unconsciously,  and  then 
consciously  began  the  struggle  which  is  the  main  reason 
for  the  great  "Industrial  Art  Revival"  we  are  now  so 
earnestly  and,  just  at  present,  amusingly,  trying  to 
organize  and  make  "commercially  operative"  on  the 
spot. 

Of  the  final  fall  of  Victorianism  and  our  own  perfectly 
original  conception  of  social  art,  we  all  know.  Of  the 
period  called  "the  perfect  copy  of  Period  Styles," 
where  no  intimation,  of  course,  existed  in  the  mind  of 
him  who  copied  the  style,  as  to  when  it  was  in  use.  Of 
the  recourse  to  all  periods  of  the  earth's  history,  during 
the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  we  need  no  recital. 
If  we  have  a  sense  of  humour  we  can  only  dismiss  it 
with  a  smile  and  a  sense  of  relief.  Of  the  birth  of  a  new 
desire  for  personal  understanding  and  experience  in  art, 
which  took  place  just  before  the  war,  and  of  the 
acceleration  of  the  growth  of  this  desire  during  the  years 
of  conflict,  everyone  is  talking  and  writing.  Concerned 
in  all  this,  fashion  has  played  her  accustomed  leading 
role  with  her  own  peculiarly  universal  success,  and  she 
is  no  less  an  autocrat  in  directing  our  new-born  art 
enthusiasm  than  she  was  in  yoking  us  to  Victorian 
sentimentalism,  or  to  our  egotism  in  the  dark  ages  of  the 
Black  Walnut  epidemic. 

Notwithstanding  this  subjection  to  fashion  our 

331 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

belief  in  our  power  to  develop  in  six  months,  for  our  own 
salvation  and  incidentally  for  that  of  the  world,  an 
"All  American  Art"  containing  no  element  or  sugges- 
tion of  the  decadent  past,  is  apparent;  an  art  of  a 
clarity,  newness,  and  originality  that  shall  answer  the 
needs  of  the  aesthetic  sense,  and  the  common  sense,  too, 
of  all  allied  and  associated  peoples. 

Yet  the  spring  fashions  for  women  are  all  coming 
from  Paris,  and  there  are  some  men  who  have  not  yet 
abandoned  conservative  styles  still  dictated  from  Lon- 
don; in  fact,  the  headlines  of  the  leading  papers  tell  us 
that  conservatism  in  materials  and  cut  is  the  vogue  for 
men  for  the  season  of  1920.  What  at  first  may  seem  of 
minor  importance  is  that  there  are  yet  alive  some  who 
can  understand,  appreciate,  and  use  the  art  of  the  past 
intelligently,  who  can  see  it  in  relation  to  their  own  com- 
posite lives  and  in  relation  to  the  aesthetic  quality 
which  they  know  to  be  an  essential  of  any  object  which 
will  survive  longer  than  the  duration  of  a  whim. 

The  term  "democracy"  is  fashionable  now,  and  we 
find  this  sagaciously  wedded  to  modern  "commercial 
interests"  and  then  accepted  and  exploited  by  fashion 
with  as  much  finesse  and  success  as  usual,  and  in 
alliance,  too,  with  the  general  uprising  of  those  so-called 
lower  classes  who  are,  and  always  have  been,  deter- 
mined to  share  the  possibilities  of  dressing  well  with  the 
classes  they  have  learned  to  think  are  above  them. 
How  far  they  are  right  in  their  beliefs,  or  ever  have 
been,  is  still  problematical,  but  the  right  to  be  in  the 
fashion  is  still  the  contested  point  among  classes,  and 
[ways  and  means  to  realize  and  express  this  right  are 
still  being  assiduously  worked  out. 
332 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

A  fairly  complete  understanding  of  the  situation 
to-day,  its  problems,  its  methods,  the  sources  of  its 
materials  and  the  evident  unmodified  instincts  of  man 
may  be  splendidly  sensed  in  the  following  quotation 
taken  from  an  article  entitled  "Paris  Fashions," 
written  by  a  correspondent  and  printed  in  the  "London 
Times"  of  September  19,  1919: 

"STYLES  FOR  MODERATE  PURSES" 

"Fashion  is  so  democratic  that  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts 
made  in  high  places  of  the  dressmaking  industry,  the 
new  styles  of  each  season  soon  find  their  way  into  the 
large  shops.  Only  price  can  make  a  style  prohibitive 
to-day,  and  this  may  be  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  Rue 
de  la  Paix  has  chosen  this  season  to  work  in  such  elabor- 
ate materials  as  gold  and  silver  faille,  beaded  nets,  and 
feathers  of  great  price.  Such  materials  necessarily 
mean  expensive  clothes,  and  although  women  of  all 
classes  spend  more  money  on  dress  than  formerly,  the 
working  and  middle-class  women  cannot  go  beyond 
certain  limits.  They  must,  therefore,  follow  fashion  in 
less  gorgeous  apparel;  but  follow  fashion  they  will,  and 
the  magasins  de  nouveautes  have  realized  that  to  satisfy 
this  demand  they  must  have  styles  that  walk  close  on 
the  heels  of  the  Rue  de  la  Paix. 

"A  visit  to  the  large  shops  in  Paris  shows  that  this 
demand  has  been  satisfied.  Few  of  fashion's  latest 
novelties  are  absent  from  their  showrooms,  and  only  the 
difference  in  quality  and  in  colour  of  materials  marks 
the  dresses  as  not  made  by  the  master- workers.  To 
the  connoisseur  this  difference  is  vastly  important,  but 
to  the  average  woman  it  is  not;  and  so  long  as  the  effect 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

is  striking  and  similar  to  that  of  the  better  class  dress 
she  asks  no  more. 

"Nevertheless  she  sometimes  errs  in  taste,  and  this 
season  she  threatens  to  commit  the  folly  of  letting  her 
love  of  novelties  run  away  with  her.  From  all  the 
watering-places,  not  only  from  Deauville,  but  from 
Chamonix,  Aix,  Evian,  Annecy,  the  same  reports  come  of 
exaggerated  decollete  dinner  dresses,  and  dance  frocks 
which  are  as  weird  as  the  dances  and  the  music  to  which 
they  are  danced.  There  is  no  measure,  no  simplicity  in 
the  dress  and  amusements  of  the  women  who  follow 
fashion  blindly  to-day;  and  in  a  kindly  but  scathing 
article  in  the  Echo  de  Paris,  M.  Andre  Beaunier  con- 
demns the  spirit  which  has  made  such  fashions  pos- 
sible. He  exonerates  to  some  extent  the  nouveaux 
riches  as  momentarily  irresponsible,  but  he  blames  the 
anciens  riches  and  the  nouveaux  pauvres  for  being  bitten 
by  the  same  madness.  He  calls  for  a  return  to  sim- 
plicity and  refinement  and  true  elegance,  things  that  are 
as  far  removed  from  luxury  as  old-fashioned  dancing  is 
from  modern. 

"At  the  same  time,  a  disquieting  rumour  is  that  the 
Second  Empire  fashions  are  growing  in  favour,  and  we 
are  to  see  vivid  Scotch  plaids,  starched  frilled  panta- 
loons showing  below  the  skirt,  and  other  like  absurdities. 
We  would  rather  a  thousand  times  see  the  styles  of  the 
eighteenth  century  than  those  of  the  Second  Empire; 
they  are,  at  least,  gay  and  gracious.  But,  unfortunately, 
there  are  already  models  of  tailor-mades  in  glaring 
Scotch  plaids  which  no  Scotch  clan  would  own.  The 
coats  are  long,  with  pockets  on  the  hips,  and  the  skirts 
are  slim  and  reach  nearly  to  the  ankles.  A  fur  collar 

334 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

softens  the  effect  of  hardness  near  the  face,  and  a  black 
velvet  toque,  three-cornered  and  very  soft  and  pliable, 
somewhat  tones  down  the  gaudiness  of  the  costume,  but 
no  stretch  of  the  imagination  could  make  such  a  vivid 
plaid  becoming  to  any  woman." 

These  conditions  are  identical  with  our  own  except 
that  each  is  modified  by  personal  and  national  idio- 
syncrasies. These  idiosyncrasies  are,  by  the  way, 
generally  the  last  of  all  things  that  any  one  ever  lives 
to  realize,  and  therefore  are,  of  all,  the  most  likely  to 
obscure  the  vision. 

It  is  yet  too  early  to  determine  anything  regarding 
the  realization  of  the  writer's  prophetic  words  concern- 
ing the  certain  return  of  "good  taste,"  or  to  say  with 
assurance  what  opportunity  the  great  shops  will  offer 
to  women  with  slender  purses  to  dress  well  and  in 
fashions  that  will  imitate  successfully  the  appearance  of 
their  more  fortunate  sisters,  but  it  is  pretty  safe  to 
predict  that  the  ratio  of  well-dressed  women  to  those 
who  have  not  arrived,  has  not  greatly  changed,  either 
here  or  in  London,  since  they  themselves  are  not  altered 
beyond  recognition  either  as  to  qualities  or  ideals.  It  is 
equally  certain  that  good  taste  never  did  become  a 
general  national  asset  overnight,  and  therefore  we  have 
a  right  to  insist  on  waiting  to  be  convinced  that  this 
autumn  is  the  exception  to  the  rule. 

We  hear  much  about  the  trade  and  its  importance  in 
determining  the  season's  materials  and  fashions.  The 
working-class,  too,  is  imitating  in  cheapest  materials 
and  in  queerest  places,  all  the  exclusive  modes  that  are 
believed  even  yet  to  be  held  in  trust  for  those  whose 
position  (whatever  that  may  mean)  demands  exclusive 

335 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

styles.  It  is  neither  new  nor  strange  to  find  "the 
trade"  or  the  proletariat  bent  upon  outdoing  the 
socially  prominent  in  dress. 

In  1872  there  was  published  in  London,  in  the  "Lady's 
Magazine,"  a  letter  written  to  the  editor  by  a  reputable 
trade  grocer,  who  thus  expressed  himself:  "I  wish  to 
God  you  would  write  something  smart  against  fashion. 
My  family  is  almost  ruined  by  the  article  of  dress. 
.  .  .  Perhaps  in  nature,  there  never  was  such  a 
figure!  Only  fashion  to  yourself  a  greengrocer's  wife 
issuing  from  her  cellar  in  Drury  Lane,  with  a  monstrous 
hoop,  exposing  a  pair  of  legs,  the  ankles  as  thick  as  the 
calf,  and  the  calf  as  thick  as  the  modern  waist;  her  hair 
bepuddened,  her  cheeks  bedaubed  with  red,  her  neck  of 
a  crimson  hue,  her  arms  bursting  through  a  pair  of  white 
gloves,  the  contrast  between  the  two  skins  being  almost 
the  very  opposite  to  each  other;  a  thick-flowered  silk 
exposing  the  whole  front  of  a  quilted  petticoat  that  once 
was  white,  and  then  you  have  the  appearance  of  my  wife ! 
Her  daughters  made  as  ridiculous  a  figure,  and  Will,  I  do 
assure  you,  was  not  the  least  remarkable  in  the  group." 

This  heart  to  heart  talk  brought  out  in  the  next  issue 
the  following  scathing  reply  from  "a  lady  contributor," 
who  evidently  harked  back  to  St.  Edith  of  earlier  fame, 
and  forward  to  the  modern  "Inquiries  and  Correspond- 
ence" columns  of  our  popular  dailies  and  monthlies: 

"I  think  it  is  high  time,  then,  for  every  female  to 
exert  a  little  knowledge  she  may  be  possessed  of  in  the 
scribbling  line,  when  the  wits,  under  the  characters  of 
Green  Grocers,  dare  to  insult  us,  and  speak  of  our 
hoops  and  other  parts  of  our  dresses,  as  freely  as  they 
exercise  their  authority  over  the  ostlers  at  a  country  inn. 
336 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

"The  favour,  dear  Madam,  we  wish  of  you,  is  to 
remonstrate  with  these  smart  gentlemen,  and,  with  us, 
tell  them  they  are  incapable  of  correcting  the  foibles 
in  the  ladies'  dresses,  till  they  have  established  a 
criterion  for  their  own.  Did  they  adopt  no  other 
fashions  than  useful  and  becoming  ones,  they  might 
have  some  solid  reasons  for  reprehending  us." 

Another  modern  prototype  and  an  equally  scathing 
example  of  masculine  rebuke  is  found  in  the  Roxburgh 
ballads  of  1686,  where  a  troubled  and  world- worn  hus- 
band is  made  to  say: 

The  Invincible  Pride  of  Women 

I  have  a  Wife,  the  more's  my  care,  who  like  a  gaudy 

peacock  goes, 
In  top-knots,  patches,  powder'd  hair,  besides  she   is 

the  worst  of  shrows; 
This  fills  my  heart  with  grief  and  care  to  think  I  must 

this  burden  bear. 

It  is  here  forecast  to  contrive  to  rise  about  the  hour  of 

Noon, 
And  if  she's  trimm'd  and  rigg'd  by  five,  why  this  I  count 

is  very  soon; 
Then  goes  she  to  a  ball  or  play,  to  pass  the  pleasant 

night  away. 

And  when  she  home  returns  again,  conducted  by  a 

bully  spark, 
If  that  I  in  the  least  complain,  she  does  my  words  and 

actions  mark, 
And   does   likewise   my   gullet   tear,    then   roars   like 

thunder  in  the  air. 

337 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

I 

In  debt  with  every  shop  she  runs,  for  to   appear  in 

gaudy  pride, 
And  when  the  milliner  she  duns,  I  then  am  forc'd  my 

head  to  hide: 
Dear  Friends,  this  proud  imperious  wife  she  makes  me 

weary  of  my  life. 

New  and  alluring  bait  is  appearing  daily  in  all  our 
publications,  calculated  to  involve  our  modern  ladies  in 
just  such  distressing  predicaments  and  in  sooth  there 
may  be  husbands  even  now  thinking  along  the  very 
same  lines.  Only  to-day,  one  of  our  country's  import- 
ant costume  houses,  evidently  more  finely  organized 
mentally  than  its  competitors,  begins  its  advertise- 
ment of  "French  spring  styles"  thus: 

"Just  at  this  season  of  the  year  it  seems  irrelevant  to 
present  such  an  inspirational  subject  as  spring  clothes 
in  prose  so  we've  given  our  pen  a  free  reign  and  told 
you  about  them  in  verse."  And  then  the  advertising 
man  breaks  into  verse  as  follows: 

"Fashion  sowed  the  seeds  of  style 

And  tended  them  with  care; 

Soon  her  garden  bloomed  apace 

And  these  are  frocks  that  we  found  there. 


Tricolette  of  slender  grace, 
Printed  georgette  crepe, 
Taffeta  of  bouffant  charm — 
Smart  with  ruffle,  braid  or  drape, 

$75.00. 
338 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

This  is  certainly  less  picturesque  than  the  eighteenth 
century  method  of  spreading  fashions  but  possibly  as 
well  suited  to  produce  results  when  we  consider  the 
present  audience  and  other  conditions. 

In  another  place  in  the  same  publication  we  find  this 
supposedly  alluring  advertisement: 

"FRENCH  FROCKS  FOR  SMALL  AMERICANS" 

"A  French  frock,  you  know,  is  one  of  the  most  be- 
coming things  that  could  happen  to  any  good  little 
girl.  France  loves  'the  little  ones'  and  her  native 
genius  is  never  more  happily  applied  than  when  her 
deft  fingers  are  fashioning  some  diminutive  garment. 

"Her  patience  is  unwearying,  her  artistic  instincts 
always  alive,  her  skill  unfailing — what  wonder,  then, 
that  the  simplest  of  these  little  frocks  is  a  marvel  of 
daintiness,  a  perfect  expression  of  the  spirit  of  child- 
hood?" 

The  point  of  appeal  in  this  case  is  still  more  astonish- 
ing and  every  bit  as  sentimental.  That  the  "com- 
mercial interests"  are  satisfied  with  their  results  is 
likely,  and  if  they  are,  criticism  of  the  means  would  be 
vain  indeed. 

The  play  of  life  is  ever  set  to  a  small  number  of  in- 
stincts and  performances.  We  recall  with  feelings  of 
commiseration  and  respect  the  sumptuary  laws  of  the 
church  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the  political  bans  of 
the  seventeenth  and  the  blue  laws  of  Massachusetts  as 
we  read  a  special  cable  to  the  New  York  papers,  from 
Milan,  under  the  date  of  February  19,  1920,  which 
runs:  "BAN  ON  IMMODEST  DRESS.  Archbishop  of 
Milan  Refuses  Communion  to  Women  Who  Offend. 

339 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

In  consequence  of  the  small  heed  paid  to  his  past 
warnings  against  the  prevailing  feminine  fashions, 
Cardinal  Ferrari,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  in  his  Lenten 
pastoral  orders  his  clergy  to  refuse  holy  communion  to 
women  who  present  themselves  in  unseemly  garb." 

It  appears  that  similar  instructions  were  given 
earlier  in  the  season  by  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  and 
that  no  end  of  talk  with  the  same  aim  is  being  given 
out  by  self-appointed  uplifters  of  society's  moral  tone, 
here  and  abroad;  and  yet  dresses  were  never  so  short  or 
so  low  cut,  nor  were  they  ever  thinner  than  they  are 
now.  Certainly  a  more  complacent  contempt  was 
never  shown  in  the  defying  of  all  mandates,  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  social,  in  order  to  achieve  the  satisfaction  of 
being  in  the  fashion  and  of  producing,  if  not  experienc- 
ing, a  new  sensation  as  often  as  a  new  idea  can  be 
brought  out.  It  may  seem  to  the  mere  observer  that 
we  can  no  longer  boast,  as  did  our  eighteenth  century 
forebears,  that  "manners  are  essential,  while  morals 
are  optional"  but  must  meekly  acknowledge  the  on- 
ward march  of  individualism  which  seems  to  have 
placed  both  these  virtues  frankly  and  finally  in  the 
optional  list. 

Traditions  die  hard,  however,  even  in  the  twentieth 
century,  when  religious,  political,  and  social  agnosticism 
not  only  is  looked  on  as  a  fashionable  fad  but  is  far  too 
universally  accepted.  Individualism,  personal  rights^ 
and  equality,  not  only  of  opportunity  but  of  assured 
achievement,  are  the  absorbing  themes  for  every  nation. 
Only  the  means  and  the  manner  of  realization  differ  as 
the  inheritance  and  environment  of  nations  dictate. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  being  fashionable  plays  no 
340 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

small  part  in  the  inauguration  and  dissemination  even 
of  these  ideas,  for  the  "Parlour  Bolsheviki"  of  various 
degrees  of  intelligence,  sincerity,  and  social  satiation, 
are  no  mean  factor  in  determining  present  standards 
and  in  distributing  propaganda.  With  the  merits  or 
demerits  of  the  situation  we  are  not  concerned,  but  in 
the  universality  of  impulses,  activities,  and  effects  on 
life  we  are  deeply  interested.  The  two  forces,  fashion 
and  commercialism,  are  still  functioning  and  their 
power  over  men's  minds  was  never  more  apparent  than 
to-day. 

Other  traditions  of  autocracy  persist,  however,  in  the 
midst  of  all  this.  True,  the  court  is  no  longer  the  sole 
originator  of  customs  and  fashions,  neither  is  it  given 
to  it  to  command  in  these  matters  outside  its  own 
limited  province,  yet  not  all  escape  being  hypnotized, 
even  in  their  own  country,  by  the  glamour  that  sur- 
rounds pomp,  splendour,  and  magnificent  form.  Lead- 
ing Sunday  papers  print  to-day  a  full  page  of  European 
royalties,  each  in  mediaeval  or  Renaissance  robes  of 
state  calculated  to  distinguish  this  particular  class  as 
superhuman  or  at  least  quite  unique.  The  effect 
of  this  on  individuals  as  it  is  presented  to  them  is 
astonishing.  Comments  range  all  the  way  from  rever- 
ence to  sacrilege,  from  adoration  to  contempt,  from 
amusement  to  positive  belligerence,  and  from  the 
comic  to  the  tragic,  each  one  of  us  declaring  himself 
at  the  same  time  to  be  a  firm  believer  in  the  democratic 
idea  of  the  liberty,  equality,  and  brotherhood  of  man. 

The  sentimentalist  cannot  even  yet  disassociate 
quality  from  material  or  realities  from  beliefs.  The 
romanticist  and  the  aesthete  find  in  these  things  only 

341 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

r 

pageant  thrills  for  the  imagination  and  the  sesthetic 
sense.  The  literal  and  realistic  type  must  either  have 
a  symbol  or  the  material,  in  all  things,  or  he  entirely 
misses  the  point;  and  so  on  all  through  the  various 
types.  But  the  number  of  those  still  aspiring  to  climb, 
or  finding  other  satisfaction  in  these  ancient  or  auto- 
cratic forms  in  costume  expression,  is  not  so  small  as  we 
imagine,  nor  are  any  of  us  as  immune  to  its  subtle 
charm  as  we  would  have  ourselves  and  our  neighbours 
believe.  It  is  difficult  to  distinguish  just  where  ab- 
stract enjoyment  of  a  performance  and  its  trappings 
leaves  off  and  belief  in  the  idea  it  symbolizes  begins. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  large  number  of  us  are  still 
greatly  influenced  by  the  strict  orders  as  to  court  dress 
issued  by  the  English  queen,  for  example,  not  only  at 
court  functions  but  in  general  social  life.  On  the  other 
hand  there  are  plenty  of  others  conforming  rigidly  and 
apparently  cheerfully  to  autocratic  restrictions  at 
court,  who  rush  madly  out  into  the  freest  spot  they  can 
find  to  satisfy  their  natural  desire  to  be  individual  and 
incidentally  to  produce  and  to  feel  the  sensation  that 
comes  from  the  extremes  that  fashion  provides  for  so 
lavishly  from  day  to  day. 

Another  royal  blow,  however,  has  just  been  dealt  us, 
and  an  impetus  given  to  royal  prestige  by  George  V 
of  England,  who  is  reported  in  words  and  by  photo- 
graph this  week  as  appearing  in  public  with  "razor 
edge  creases"  pressed  in  the  sides  of  each  leg  of  his 
royal  trousers,  instead  of  having  one  in  front  and  the 
other  behind.  This  same  fashion,  we  are  told,  was 
inaugurated  once  by  Edward  VII,  but  royal  prerog- 
ative could  not  win  against  established  English  habit. 
342 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

We  shall  see  how  the  mandate  works  in  1920,  but  we 
may  in  the  meantime  console  ourselves  with  the 
thought  that  it  takes  all  kinds  of  people  to  make  a 
world  and  each  has  sought  satisfaction  according  to  his 
kind.  Furthermore,  it  seems  that  the  necessary  ma- 
terial for  the  sensation  has  heretofore  always  been 
forthcoming.  We  may  with  confidence  assume  that 
the  exception  is  not  yet,  and  that  we  shall  each  choose 
the  place  for  the  crease  according  to  our  kind. 

It  seems  that  Spain  alone  has  so  far  succeeded  in 
keeping  to  the  strict  letter  of  ancient  law  in  customs, 
forms,  and  display  in  matters  of  court  life,  though  we 
read  that,  "a  part  of  each  day  is  allowed  these  royal- 
ties to  breathe  naturally."  This  was  not  allowed  their 
early  ancestors.  A  despatch  dated  March  13,  1920, 
from  Madrid,  has  the  caption:  "ALPHONSE'S  COURT 
RETAINS  SPLENDOUR.  Madrid,  March  13:  The  royal 
house  of  Spain,  despite  the  democratic  nature  of  the 
King  and  people,  alone  among  the  remaining  courts  of 
Europe  retains  all  the  Old  World  formalities  which  up  to 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  were  so  rigorously  observed  in 
Vienna,  St.  Petersburg,  Berlin  and  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  in  London,  Rome  and  some  of  the  smaller  capi- 
tals of  Europe. 

:<  This  is  due  to  a  large  extent  to  the  influence  of  the 
Queen  Mother,  Maria  Christina,  who  remains  all 
powerful  in  court  circles  and  is  a  stickler  for  the  ob- 
servance of  those  forms  and  ceremonies  which  marked 
all  occasions  at  the  Court  of  Austria,  where,  as  a  Grand 
Duchess,  she  learned  them. 

"King  Alfonso,  after  receiving  in  the  throne  room  at 
the  palace  in  the  morning,  may  rub  shoulders  with 

343 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

jockeys,  book-makers,  and  the  general  run  of  racegoers 
at  the  track  in  the  afternoon,  but  when  he  returns  to 
the  palace  in  the  evening  he  resumes,  as  it  were,  the 
crown. 

"The  strict  formality  of  the  court  was  observed  at  the 
banquet  and  reception  given  to  the  Diplomatic  Corps  a 
short  time  ago,  when  for  the  first  time  the  repre- 
sentatives of  all  countries  had  been  invited  to  the  same 
function  since  the  summer  of  1914.  The  guests  saw  a 
display  of  jewels  which  probably  could  not  be  matched 
outside  of  Asia.  Although  the  diplomats  were  the 
guests  of  the  evening  the  younger  members  of  the 
royal  family  preceded  them  and  were  to  the  right  and 
left  of  Queen  Victoria  at  the  tables;  the  Ambassadors 
and  ministers  of  State  coming  after  them. 

"Dinner  over,  the  King  and  Queen  with  the  royalties 
and  dinner  guests  formed  in  procession  down  a  long 
reception  hall,  where  the  foreign  representatives  pre- 
sented the  members  of  their  staffs.  The  King  and 
Queen  stopped  at  each  group  to  pass  a  few  words,  but 
this  was  the  only  informality  of  the  evening.  Later  in 
the  throne  room  guests  not  belonging  to  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps  were  presented. 

"The  finest  scene,  however,  was  on  the  grand  stair- 
case, on  either  side  of  which  stood  a  row  of  brilliantly 
gowned  women  wearing  many  jewels  and  as  the  men  in 
their  brilliant  uniforms  passed  up  and  down  the  stair- 
case a  changing  colour  scheme  was  presented. 

"Queen  Victoria  in  a  dress  of  cloth  of  gold,  a  wonder- 
ful diamond  tiara  on  her  fair  head,  two  great  diamond 
necklaces  reaching  to  her  waist,  was  a  stately   and 
dazzling  figure. 
344 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

"The  Queen  Mother  was  equally  resplendent  in 
pearls,  of  which  she  wore  a  collar  of  six  rows,  a  tiara,  two 
necklaces  and  many  clusters.  Ladies-in-waiting  wore 
jewels  formed  of  every  precious  stone  known,  with 
whom  vied  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  grandees  of 
all  Spain." 

We  had  for  a  time  thought  of  the  costumes  and  jewels 
of  Beatrice  d'Este  as  setting  the  standard  of  glory  and 
of  the  wardrobe  of  Marie  de'  Medici  as  finishing  the 
possibilities  in  individual  display  of  the  mineral  king- 
dom, and  of  the  formalities  at  Versailles  in  the  days  of 
the  great  Montespan  as  a  climax  in  stage  business,  but 
history  repeats  itself;  even  now  it  would  be  interesting 
to  know  what  any  of  these  great  ladies,  or  even  the 
present  Dowager  Queen  of  Spain,  would  think  if  by 
some  magic  she  could  be  brought  face  to  face  with 
certain  boxes  in  the  Golden  Horseshoe  at  the  Metro- 
politan Opera  House  in  New  York  on  Wednesday  or 
Friday  evening  when  a  sensation  has  been  promised. 
Be  it  said,  however,  there  are  less  of  these  exhibitions 
than  there  were  a  few  years  ago  when  glittering  jewels 
instead  of  the  milder  lustre  of  the  modest  pearl,  were 
supposed  to  express  affluence.  Obviously,  however, 
not  all  the  jewels  nor  the  full  dress  uniforms  are  at  the 
court  of  Madrid,  nor  was  it  at  Versailles  or  Milan  that 
gorgeous  display  found  its  Waterloo. 

It  may  be  added  here  that  in  most  cases  this  modern 
sumptuous  raiment  is  not  as  strictly  traditional  with 
some  of  its  wearers  as  it  was  in  earlier  periods  when 
taste  was  generally  inherent,  and  when  more  time  was 
allowed  the  individual  to  become  acquainted  with 
social  claims  and  their  responsibilities  than  is  possible 

345 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

with  a  people  so  hard  pressed  as  we  for  immediate  ex- 
pression on  so  elaborate  a  scale. 

Some  of  us  were  perhaps  rather  shocked  to  find  the 
great  ladies  of  Renaissance  Italy  using  paint  for  their 
daily  makeup,  and  not  all  of  us  were  willing  to  give  the 
eighteenth  century  social  set  in  France  the  supreme  place 
in  this  important  practice,  believing  perhaps  that  we 
were  the  discoverers  of  something  new.  But  we  were 
completely  silenced  this  week  by  a  noted  lecturer  and 
archaeologist  who  assures  us  that  "women  painted  six 
thousand  years  ago  and  pencilled  their  eyebrows  in 
very  much  the  same  fashion  they  do  to-day."  This 
seems  almost  too  much,  if  our  fashions  are  the  product 
not  only  of  those  of  the  last  two  thousand  years  but  of 
those  of  the  time  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon  as  well.  If 
we  have  proved  true  to  every  practice  and  folly  of  the 
ages  we  may  look  ahead  with  supreme  complacence  to 
a  further  interpretation  of  all  these  practices  along  the 
same  well  developed  lines. 

j  Admitting  then,  frankly,  that  the  fundamental  ap- 
ggtiles,  longings  and  desires  of  man  are  and!  always  were 
practically  Hie  same;  that  elemental  impulses  have 
acted  and  probably  will  act  and  react  underThe  same 
conditions  quite  similarly,  as  long  as  man  exists;  that 
vanities,  jealousies,  and  self-interest  will  influence  the 
next  century  as  they  have,  all  of  those  that  have  gone 
before  and  that  fashion,  commercialism,  and  the 
material  interests  of  the  universe  will  play  as  large  a 
part  as  possible,  still  there  are  two  very  important  facts 
that  indicate  somewhat  the  quality  of  the  domination 
that  we  may  reasonably  hope  for  in  this  new  era  which 
almost  every  one  believes  to  have  just  opened. 
346 


TO  BEHOLD  IN  SILENCE  IS  A  PRIVILEGE,  TO  COMMENT  SUPERFLUOUS 
AND    SENSELESS.       (JULY,    1877.) 


AN  EXAMPLE  OF  FASHION  STRIVING  FOR  PIQUANT  ORIGINALITY 
IN  THE  DAYS  OF  THE  DIRECTOIRE 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

Two  elements  of  this  combination,  commercialism 
and  fashion,  are  struggling  for  pre-eminence  and  will 
determine  largely  what  this  new  interruption  or  re- 
action is  to  be,  and  at  the  same  time  what  will  be  the 
leading  quality  of  the  results. 

At  this  moment,  however,  the  combat  is  between  any 
and  all  ideals  of  social  betterment  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  almost  universal  god,  commercialism,  on  the  other. 
When  this  latter  force  is  controlled  or  even  sensed  by  a 
majority  in  its  sane  relation  to  other  things  in  life,  the 
way  is  cleared  for  a  mental  concept  of  something  in 
which  there  is  a  fair  chance  for  other  elements  to  be- 
come active,  but  not  until  then  can  a  better  order  in  art 
be  born. 

But  to  return  to  the  two  encouraging  facts:  the  first  of 
these  is  to  be  found  in  a  greatly  quickened  national 
and  international  sense.  The  prodigious  cataclysm 
into  which  the  world  has  been  thrown  has  awakened  the 
senses,  stirred  the  impulses,  and  stimulated  mental 
activity,  to  an  alarming  degree  perhaps,  as  some  are 
saying,  but  by  no  means  has  it  yet  been  proved  that 
the  balance  of  this  new  and  recharged  energy  will  not 
be  turned  into  constructive  lines  of  a  finer  and  a  nobler 
sort  than  that  which  has  determined  the  lives  of  nations 
for  the  last  century. 

In  the  second  place,  by  a  somewhat  mysterious,  but 
none  the  less  certain  process,  our  national  aesthetic 
sense  has  been  jolted  into  semi-consciousness  and 
seems  to  be  gradually  stretching  itself  preparatory  to 
taking  at  least  an  infantile  interest  in  its  natural  rights 
and  powers.  These,  when  once  realized,  will  increase 
in  scope  as  the  sense  develops.  This  sense  will  demand 

347 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DRESS 

the  art  quality  for  its  satisfaction  and  whether  we  will 
or  no  we  shall  create,  even  in  dress,  with  the  art  quality 
consciously  an  element  in  the  work  of  our  hands.  This 
in  turn  will  influence  fashion  and  the  "commercial  in- 
terests" will  not  be  slow  to  take  notice,  because  even 
they  will  not  deny  the  commercial  value  of  art.  Until 
such  time,  however,  as  we  really  know  what  constitutes 
the  art  quality,  have  a  genuine  desire  for  it,  get  to 
work  to  acquire  it,  and  through  its  possession  begin  to 
externalize  it,  we  shall  not  even  be  in  creative  compe- 
tition with  any  other  nation  that  is  already  in  the  field, 
with  a  consciousness  equipped  with  this  quality. 

In  the  meantime  material  conditions,  both  here  and 
abroad,  will  probably  right  themselves,  and  we  may 
yet  awaken  to  the  truth  that  with  all  our  natural  re- 
sources, innate  inventiveness,  commercial  instincts  and 
quickness,  some  other  nation,  less  cocksure  than  we, 
may  still  be  dictating  both  fashions  and  styles,  not  only 
to  us  but  to  the  rest  of  the  civilized  world. 

Furthermore,  the  world  is  absolutely  sure  to  go  on 
for  sundry  reasons  craving  for  sensations  in  dress,  obey- 
ing meekly  fashion's  ever  changing  dictates,  no  matter 
whence  they  emanate.  We  shall  wear  furs  in  any  month 
we  are  told  to  and  go  as  nearly  naked  as  the  laws  will  per- 
mit, for  precisely  the  same  reasons.  We  shall  in  the 
main  go  without,  or  put  on,  in  and  out  of  season,  in 
divers  shapes  and  innumerable  quantities,  such  per- 
fectly new  and  correct  things  as  are  presented  to  us. 

That  love  of  luxury  and  inordinate  display  is  not 
eliminated  from  human  experience  seems  fairly  certain, 
and  that  the  bourgeoisie  (after  the  Revolution  in  France) 
were  not  the  last  of  the  species  that  is  to  express  itself 
348 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  STYLES 

in  no  uncertain  terms  in  the  choice  of  expensive  and 
shining  raiment,  we  are  again  reminded. 

Nor  is  there  any  likelihood  that  the  ever-increasing 
knowledge  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  prole- 
tariat, to  be  as  fashionable  and  as  dressy  as  those  whose 
lot  has  fallen  among  less  populous  classes,  will  lessen 
the  variety  or  the  comedy  of  Fashion's  expression,  as 
she  is  represented  both  in  the  political  and  the  social 
strongholds  of  our  democracy  in  its  onward  move  toward 
Utopian  individualism.  /Granting  all  this,  it  still  ap- 
pears that  man  is,  after  all,  mostly  the  result  of  his 
environment,  and  that  he  will  certainly  express,  unless 
forced  to  do  otherwise,  precisely  what  he  is. 

THE   END 


349 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Adams,  John,  281 

Addison,  quoted,  251-52 

Alfieri,  223 

American  Victorian,  330 

Anglo-mania  of  1816-17,  296 

Anne  of  Austria,  151, 159, 161 

Anne  of  Cleves,  dress  worn  by,  139 

Anne,  of  France,  on  Simplicity  in  Dress, 

102 

Anne,  Queen  of  England,  188-90 
"Anti-healthy"  fashion,  301 
Arcadian  style  in  literature,  223 
Art  quality  of  French  fashions,  323- 

24 
Asceticism,  Theory  of,  98 

Ball  gown  (1869),  Description  of, 
309 

Balloon  skirt,  309 

Barbarossa,  Federico,  23 

Baroque  Style,  167-68, 197-98 

Bassompierre,  Marechal  de,  157 

Battifol,  quoted,  152-53 

Beatrice  d'Este,  97,  345 

Bedroom  of  Marie  de  Medici,  152-53 

Belcher,  Governor,  277 

Berkhardt  on  women  of  the  Renais- 
sance, quoted,  91 

Bernardino,  Fra,  92 

Berri,  Duchesse  de,  Costume  of,  291 

"  Black  Walnut  Period,"  The,  330 

" Blues"  and  "Lilacs,"  108 

Borgia,  Lucrezia,  59,  71-77 

Botticelli,  62 

Brewer,  Rev.  E.  Cobham,  quoted, 
200 


Cabriolets,  258 

Calthrop's  "English  Costume"  quoted, 

255,  298 

Cashmere  Shawl,  Introduction  of,  293 
Castiglione  quoted,  99 
Catherine  de  Medici,  105-12, 119, 123 
Ceremonies  at  the  birth  of  a  Prince, 

55-57 
Challamel,      "History     of     Fashion" 

quoted,  308 

Charles  I  of  England,  179-82 
Charles  II  of  England,  183-88 
Charles  V,  of  France,  daily  life  of,  19- 

20 
Charles  VII,  of  France,  Costume  in  the 

reign  of,  21 

Charles  VIII  of  France,  96-101 
Charles  IX  of  France,  120 
Charles  V,  Emperor  of  Germany,  etc.,  103 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  275 
Chateauroux,  Duchesse  de,  200 
Chiericati,  Francesco,  letters  to  Isabella 

d'Este,  131-34 
Chippendale,  241 
Chivalry,  5,  9-12,  31-32 
Chivalry    in    England,     Modifications 

of,  33-34 

Cicisbeo,  The,  221-22 
Classic  Greek  Mania  (1796),  215 
Classic  Revival,  222 
Classicism,  49 
Clement  VII,  Pope,  105-06 
"Cloth   of   Gold,"  see  "Field   of  the 

Cloth  of  Gold" 
Colbert,  161-62 
Colonial  Costume,  264-83 

353 


INDEX 


Colour,  Range   of,  amongst  the  Vene- 
tians, 86-87 
Conversazione,  234 
Coronation  Costume,  Henry  VIII.  136- 

37 

Cosmetics,  229,  258,  346 
Costume,  see 

Colonial  Costume 

Dutch  Costume 

English  Costume 

French  Costume 

Italian  Costume 

Mediaeval  Costume 

Military  Costume 

Venetian  Costume 
Costume,  Woman's,  in  business,  298 
"Cotehardies,"43 
Cowley,  quoted  on  the  dress  of  ladies 

of  quality,  181 

Crinoline,  Introduction  of,  307 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  182-83 
Crusades,  The,  12-13 

Diaphanous  gowns,  293 

Directoire  Style,  264,  284 

Dolls,  French,  278 

Domestic  Customs,  see  English  Domes- 
tic Customs 

Domestic  Life  in  Middle  Ages,  15 

Doublet,  114 

Du  Barry,  Mme.,  201-02,  208 

Duclaux,  Mary,  on  the  High  Renais- 
sance in  Italy,  97-98 

Dutch  Costume  (Colonial),  270-72 

Dutch  influence  in  English  fashions,  188 

Earrings,  Invention  of,  88 
Ecclesiastical    dominance    in    Middle 

Ages,  8 

Edith,  St.,  quoted,  39 
Edward  VI,  Sermon  preached  before,  140 
Edward  VII,  342 
Egerton,  Mary  Margaret,  252 
Eighteenth  Century,  The,  in  England, 
354 


238-64;  in  France,  193-215;  in  Italy, 
216-37;  in  the  U.  S.,  265-83 

Eleanor,    Queen,   effigy    of    in     West- 
minster Abbey,  41 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England,  142-46 

Empire  fashions  in  Italy,  315 

Empire  Style,  263;  description  of,  292- 
93 

English  Costume,  41 ; 

At   the   time   of   Richard   III,    127; 
Henry   VIII,    138-39;   Queen   Eliza- 
beth, 144-45 

English  Costume  of  Gentlemen 

At  the  time  of  Henry  VIII,  141;  in 
1751,  231-33 

English  Costume  of  Women  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  43-44 

English  domestic  customs,  35-45 

English  mind,  The,  242-43 

English  Styles:  Victorian  era,  303 

d'Entraigues,  Henriette,  157-58 

Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  132 

d'Estampes,  Mme.,  103,  105-06,  108 

d'Estrees,  Gabrielle,  157 

Eugenie,  Empress,  304-05 

Faneuil,  Andrew,  277 

Fanshaw,  Lady,  quoted,  185 

Fashion  see  Modern  Fashion 

Fashions  of  1854,  306 

Ferrara,  Marriage  ceremonies  at,  71-77 

Feudal  System,  8-9 

Feudalism  in  Italy,  22 

Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  137 

Florence,  Fashion  in,  90 

Fontanges,  Duchesse  de,  164 

Forks  introduced  into  France,  158 

Francis  I,  103-111 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  282 

French  Costume  (Francois  I),  114;  of 

1760,  205-06 
French  Revolution,  Women's  dress  in 

the,  212-13 
Frock  coat,  The,  314 


INDEX 


Gentleman,    Dress    of    a,    at    time    of 

Charles  II,  185 
George  I,  Costume  in  the  period  of,  250, 

252 

George  III,  260 
George  V,  342 
Ghirlandajo,  62 
Gloves,  Mourning,  277 
Gobelin  tapestries,  110 
Goldoni,  223,  230 
Goldoni  on  Theory  of    Hair-dressing, 

313 

Goldoni,  on  the  Conversazione,  234 
Goldsmith,  245 
Gothic  Art,  4-6 
Gozzi,  223 

Greek  art,  Spirit  of,  99 
Gregorovius,  on  Lucrezia  Borgia  and 

her  Wedding  Portion,  72-74 
Gregory  X,  Pope,  26 

Hair,  A    gentleman's,  at   the  time  of 

Queen  Anne,  251-52 
Hair-dressing,  Absurdities  of,  263 
Hair-dressing  at  the  time  of  Charles  I, 

180 
Hair-dressing,  "Hedge-hog"    style    of, 

209 

Hair-dressing,  Venetian,  89,  229 
Jlallam,  on  Furnishings  at  the  Beginning 

of  the  Reign  of  Henry  VII,  129-30 
Handkerchief,  230 
Headdress,   Feminine,  at    the  time  of 

Charles  II,  188-89 
Henrietta  of  France,  179 
Henry  III  of  England,  39-40 
Henry  VII  of  England,  128, 131 
Henry  VIII  of  England,  104,  128,  131, 

135-141,  147 

Henry  II  of  France,  111-119 
Henry  III  of  France,  122-25 
Henry  III  of  France,  Description  of 

dress  of,  123 
Henry  IV  of  France,  150-51 


Hepplewhite,  241 

Holbein,  138 

Holinshed's  Chronicle,  quoted,  145 

Hoop  craze  in  England,  189-90 

Hoops,  Introduction  of,  258,  307 

Immodest  Dress,  Church  ban  on,  339-40 
Independent  Dress,  The  Age  of,  310 
"Industrial  Art  Revival,"  331 
Innocent  III,  Pope,  23 
Innocent  XI,  issues  Bull,  158 
Ippolito,  Cardinal,  74 
Ireland,  early   manners,   customs,    134 
Irving,  Washington,  quoted,  270 
Isabella,   Duchess  of  Gonzaga,  62-69, 

77,  83-85,  327 
Italian    domestic    life    in   the    Middle 

Ages,  27-30 
Italian  Costume,  315 
Italian  summer  palace,  Description  of,  84 
Italian  town  life  (Thirteenth  Century), 

24-25 

James  I  of  England,  176-79 

James  II  of  England,  187-88 

John  of  Salisbury,  on  the  Training  of  a 

Knight,  33 

Josephine,  Empress,  291 
Justinian,  "Institutes"  of,   discovered, 

13 

Knighthood,   Effeminate   tendency   of, 

33-34 
Knighthood,  Training  for,  9-10,  33 

La  Bruyere,  on  the  Use  of  Cosmetics, 

165 

Lace  introduced  into  England,  178-79 
Lace,  Point  d'Angleterre,  291 
Latino,     Cardinal,     issues    Sumptuary 

Regulations,  26 

"Ladies  Library"  (1739),  quoted,  247 
"Lady's  Magazine"  (1872),  quoted,  336 
Lady's  Wardrobe  of  1720,  Inventory  of, 

251 

355 


INDEX 


La  Valliere,  Mile,  de,  161,  165-66 

Leckzinski,  Marie,  200 

Leo  X,  Pope,  104 

"Lilacs"  and  "Blues,"  108 

"Lionel  and  Clarissa,"  249 

Lombard  League,  The,  23 

London    Times  on   "Paris   Fashions," 

quoted,  333-34 
Lorenzo  de  Medici,  60-62 
Louis  XI,  22,  96-97 
Louis  XII,  101-03 
Louis  XIII,  151,  159 
Louis  XIV,  160-67, 195 
Louis  XIV,  Maker  of  modern     fashion, 

320,  328 

Louis  XV,  196-207 
Louis  XVI,  207-08 
Louis  Seize  Style,  235-36 
Love-lock,  The,  179 

Maintenon,  Mme.  de,  161, 166,  195 
Mantignon,    Mile,    de,    Trousseau    of, 

214 

Mantua,  The  Court  of,  65-66 
Marie  Antoinette,  207-11 
Marie  de  Medici,  151-56,  345 
Marot,  Clemont,  104 
Marriages:  Bianca  Sforza  to  Emperor 

Maximilian,  79-82;  Lucrezia  Borgia, 

71-77;    Princess    Elizabeth    to    the 

Prince  Palatine,  178 
Mary  I,  Queen  of  England,  141-42 
Mary  Stuart,  116-17 
Masks  "a  la  Venise,"  124 
Maximilian,  Emperor,  79-82 
Mazarin,  151,  162 
Mediaeval  Costume,  17-18 
Medievalism,  1-46,  193-94 
Mengs,  222 
Metastasio,  223 
Metropolitan  Opera  House,  New  York, 

345 

Michelet,  quoted,  166-67 
Milan,  Description  of  (1771),  235-36 
356 


Military  Costume,  19 

Modern  Fashion,  Origin  of,  320-1 

Molmenti,  on  Art  in  Venice,  169-70; 
on  Life  in  country  villas  in  Italy,  174; 
on  the  Costume  of  the  Venetian 
aristocracy,  87-88 

Montague,  Lady  Mary,  on  Parisian  fash- 
ion, 205 

Montendre,  Dubois  de,  quoted  on  Ex- 
travagance, 164-65 

Montespan,  Mme.  de,  162,  165 

Morgan,  Lady,  quoted,  291 

Mourning,  276 

Mouchy,  Duchesse  de,  309 

"Mutton  leg  sleeve,"  297 

Nantes,  The  Edict  of  (1598),  151 
Napkins,  Table,  Introduction  of,  29 
Napoleon  I,  284-90 
Napoleon  III,  Marriage  of,  305-06 
New  England  Costume,  267,  273-74,  277 
Nineteenth  Century,  The,  284-317 
Nobility,  Dress  of  (time  of  Francois  I), 

114 

Norman  Castle,  Description  of  a,  37 
Norman  Conquest  of  England,  34 

Odom,  "History  of  Italian  Furniture," 

quoted,  65-66,  236 
Odom,  on  the  High  Renaissance,  70 

Paniers,  204,  213 

Paris,  Description  of,  in  the  Fourteenth 

Century,  18 
Patches,  158,  230 
Pell,  Miss,  275 
Pepys'  diary,  185-86 
Perfumes,  Passion  for,  93 
Petrarch,  on  the  Customs  and  Manners 

of  the  French,  18-19 
Philadelphia  Centennial  (1876),  330-31 
Philip  Augustus,  14;  Costume  of,  16 
Philippe  le  Bel,  Costumes  in  the  reign 

of,  17 


INDEX 


Piozzi,    Mrs.,  "Observations"    quoted, 

261 

Platonic  Love,  100 
Point  d'  Angleterre  lace,  291 
Poitiers,    Dianne    de,    103,    108,    111, 

113 

Pompadour,  Mme.  de,  200-02 
Pritchard,  Mrs.,  269 
Proletariat  vs.  Aristocracy,  299 
Pullman  Period,  The  Early,  330 

Queen  Anne  Period,  240 

Rachel,  301 
Ramilie  Tail,  252 
Renaissance,  Climax  of  the,  57 
Renaissance    in    England,    125—48;    in 

France,  95-125;  in  Italy,  47-94 
Renaissance,  Periods  of  the,  51-52 
Revival  of  Letters,  126,  131,  136 
Richard  III  of  England,  127 
Richelieu,  151, 159 
Riding-habit,  The,  251 
"Robe  Volante"  (1730),  205 
Robin,  Abbe,  274 
Rocaille,  198 

Rochambeau,  Count,  280,  282 
Rococo,  218,  224 
"Romance  of  the  Rose,"  20 
Romantic  School,  The,  301 
Rome,  The  Renaissance  in,  71-77 
Romney,  George,  256 
Rousseau  quoted,  297 
Roxburgh  Ballads  of  1686,  quoted,  337 

Sansovini,  54 

Sarto,  Andrea  del,  62 

Savonarola,  22,  92 

Second  Empire  Style,  304 

Sedgwick,    "Italy    in    the    Thirteenth 

Century,"  quoted,  24 
Seventeenth  Century,  The,  in  England, 

175-90;  in  France,  149-67;  in  Italy, 

167-75 


Sforza,  Bianca,  79-82 

Sforza,  Caterina,  57,  93 

Sforza,  Lodovico,  55 

Sheraton,  241 

Sir  Roger  de  Coverley,  253 

Skipton  Castle,  130 

Smollett,     "Travels    through     France 

and  Italy"  quoted,  258 
Southern  Colonists,  The,  265 
Spain,  Court  etiquette  of,  343-54 
Sparrow,  "The  English  House,"  quoted, 

35-37 
"Spectator,"  The,  quoted  on  The  Hoop 

Craze,  189-90 
"Spencers,"  296 
Stael,  Mme.  de,  293 
Sully,  Due  de,  123 
Sumptuary  Laws  in  Italy,  31;  in  Venice, 

87 
Swinburne,  Henry,  quoted,  213-14 

Table  Manners  (1290),  29 

Tarabotti,     Arcangela,     on     Venetian 

Dress,  172-73 
Third  Republic,  The,  310 
Titian,  62 

Toilet,  First  books  published,  on  the,  93 
Toilet  of  Marie  de  Medici,  154 
Tournament,  Description  of  a,  14-15 
Train,  The  Court,  305 
Trousseau  of  a  certain  Venetian  Lady 

(1744),  225-28 
Tulle,  211 

Turban,  Turkish,  121 
Turin,  Bourgeoisie  of,  315 
Twentieth  Century,  The  Early,  318-49 

Umbrella,  The,  255 

Urbino,  Court  of  the  Duke  of,  83 

Vandyke  Style,  179-80 
Velvet,  the  most  Fashionable  Fabric,  115 
Venice,  Dress  of  a  Lady  of  Quality  in, 
86 

357 


INDEX 

Venice  in  the  Seventeenth  Century, 

170-71,  174 

Venice,  Renaissance  in,  85-90 
Venice,    Visit   of    Beatrice    d'Este   to, 

77-78 

Venetian  Costume  (male),  89 
Vernon  on  Eighteenth  Century  Italy, 

quoted,  220 
Vernon  on  the  Baroque  Style,  quoted, 

167-68 


Victorian  Period,  303 

Waist  line,  292 

Watch  chains,  Men's,  313 

Watering  places  (1855-60),  308 

Willoughby,  Mrs.,  269 

Winckelmann,  222 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  137 

Woolen  Clothing  in  England,  40 


358 


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